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Poll Summary

Number Of Votes Cast
63,764
Overall Acceptance Rates
Choice Number Percentage
Yes 41,383 65%
No 14,113 22%
Undecided 8,268 13%

Servlets and JSPsYesNoUndecidedVotes
A Web App Framework - WEB4J 61% 19% 20% 1242
Always maintain HttpSessions 75% 15% 9% 130
Beware multilingual submit buttons 63% 21% 16% 117
Beware of common hacks 85% 8% 7% 99
Beware of custom cookies 81% 7% 12% 86
Beware of doubly escaped ampersands 77% 14% 9% 69
Beware of URL rewriting 63% 24% 13% 135
Choose form validation style carefully 73% 16% 11% 110
Consider Controllers for redirects 50% 25% 25% 32
Do not synchronize doGet, doPost 69% 20% 11% 695
Emit flexible URLs 75% 10% 16% 51
Escape special characters 61% 28% 11% 807
Forward versus redirect 73% 14% 13% 549
JSPs should contain only presentation logic 88% 7% 6% 214
Loss of data during restart 61% 16% 23% 69
Manage sessions closely 81% 11% 8% 146
Measure web app performance 86% 7% 7% 160
Minimize site response time 75% 13% 13% 87
Parse parameters into domain objects 32% 36% 32% 22
Pre-populate forms 45% 36% 19% 84
Prefer JSTL tags 74% 15% 11% 190
Prefer UTF-8 in all layers 81% 9% 9% 116
Prevent self-linking 42% 50% 8% 24
Refactor large Controllers 75% 12% 12% 16
Repel invalid requests 73% 14% 14% 22
Reuse login page for errors 70% 19% 11% 148
Send trouble-ticket emails 57% 14% 29% 21
Serve binary content 56% 23% 21% 52
Session-scope objects often Serializable 77% 11% 13% 94
Struts seems mediocre 44% 37% 19% 195
Thread-safety in web apps 75% 16% 9% 283
Understand details of FORM tags 81% 8% 12% 26
Use Cascading Style Sheets 81% 13% 6% 69
Use extensions for fine-grained security 58% 28% 14% 36
Use Model-View-Controller framework 90% 3% 7% 277
Use templates to standardize layout 54% 38% 8% 37
Validate email addresses 44% 41% 14% 352
Validate generated HTML 74% 14% 12% 264
Web usability guidelines 87% 3% 10% 31
Wrap file upload requests 48% 27% 25% 56
SwingYesNoUndecidedVotes
A Swing App - StocksMonitor 65% 17% 18% 284
Actions 68% 20% 12% 76
Align menu items 67% 20% 13% 85
Change theme 71% 16% 13% 136
Consider JGoodies Forms for layouts 75% 8% 17% 89
Don't bury dialogs 61% 17% 22% 23
Don't subclass JDialog or JFrame 32% 38% 31% 114
Filter table rows 53% 40% 7% 15
Input dialogs 53% 24% 24% 34
Launch other applications 76% 24% 0% 21
Layout Managers 65% 23% 11% 175
Look and Feel guidelines 85% 9% 6% 47
Minimal Swing application 68% 16% 16% 69
Observers and listeners 43% 30% 27% 123
Preferences dialogs 40% 16% 44% 25
Provide an uncaught exception handler 58% 22% 20% 81
Render table cells 69% 14% 17% 240
Sort table rows 49% 27% 24% 51
Splash screen 58% 29% 12% 268
Standardized dialogs 54% 33% 12% 24
Swing in general 76% 9% 15% 33
Swing threads 57% 24% 19% 135
Swing utility tasks 79% 15% 6% 34
Timers 31% 54% 15% 110
Using JavaHelp 55% 28% 18% 80
Using preferences 44% 34% 22% 59
Verify input with Model Objects 70% 20% 10% 10
Verify input with regular expressions 45% 33% 21% 33
ExceptionsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Avoid @throws in javadoc 47% 32% 21% 265
Avoid empty catch blocks 84% 9% 7% 275
Be specific in throws clause 58% 35% 7% 226
Beware of unknown root causes 41% 24% 35% 17
Checked versus unchecked exceptions 53% 29% 19% 1277
Exception translation 90% 6% 3% 93
Exceptions and control flow 70% 15% 15% 133
Finally and catch 67% 19% 14% 477
Javadoc all exceptions 55% 27% 18% 88
Pass all pertinent data to exceptions 96% 1% 3% 99
Stack trace as String 77% 14% 9% 661
Use template for repeated try-catch 61% 11% 27% 62
Input-OutputYesNoUndecidedVotes
Always close streams 79% 13% 8% 257
Buffering usually appropriate 89% 7% 4% 55
Console input 51% 31% 17% 206
Copy a file 70% 21% 9% 56
Reading and writing binary files 53% 24% 23% 153
Reading and writing Serializable objects 63% 25% 12% 263
Reading and writing text files 62% 22% 16% 2943
DatabasesYesNoUndecidedVotes
Business identifiers as String 85% 10% 5% 233
Connection pools 87% 7% 7% 258
Consider data layer tools 62% 17% 21% 29
Consider using standard SQL 71% 15% 14% 80
Consider wrapper classes for optional data 76% 13% 11% 62
Data access objects 63% 20% 17% 228
Data exception wrapping 76% 16% 8% 49
Data is king 88% 7% 6% 89
Don't perform basic SQL tasks in code 85% 10% 5% 61
Encapsulate connections 82% 8% 10% 39
Keep SQL out of code 54% 33% 13% 154
Prefer PreparedStatement 90% 5% 5% 60
Reduce database code duplication 96% 0% 4% 23
Remember the basics of database design 87% 7% 5% 55
Simplify database operations 50% 28% 22% 18
Try pseudo-persistence for mock ups 73% 14% 14% 22
Use template for transactions 69% 6% 25% 16
CollectionsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Choosing the right Collection 82% 9% 9% 516
Encapsulate collections 84% 5% 11% 156
Iterate without an index 75% 18% 6% 260
Prefer Collections over older classes 83% 7% 10% 101
Two ways of using Iterator 63% 23% 14% 982
Use for-each liberally 82% 12% 6% 171
Use interface references to Collections 69% 19% 12% 91
Use standard Collections 80% 8% 12% 116
Overriding Object MethodsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Avoid clone 44% 35% 21% 439
Implementing compareTo 53% 32% 15% 314
Implementing equals 59% 26% 14% 261
Implementing hashCode 57% 26% 17% 349
Implementing toString 50% 30% 19% 341
Never rely on finalize 68% 19% 13% 77
Common TasksYesNoUndecidedVotes
Arrays as String 45% 37% 17% 244
Clipboard copy and paste 80% 12% 8% 1435
Command line operations 44% 42% 15% 131
Compare and sort Strings 59% 28% 14% 203
Copy an array 62% 27% 11% 539
Determine if Strings are equal 71% 21% 8% 464
Examine bytecode 50% 39% 11% 38
Fetch web page and header 66% 20% 15% 301
Generate random numbers 64% 26% 11% 7884
Get database connection 56% 28% 16% 1061
Get size of object in memory 39% 45% 16% 306
Implement code tables 53% 21% 26% 34
Internationalization 51% 24% 24% 45
Logging messages 63% 21% 16% 1172
Measure application performance 78% 15% 7% 54
Modernize old code 89% 7% 4% 45
Open file in native directory 100% 0% 0% 1
Parse text 61% 21% 18% 565
Pattern-match lines of a file 59% 29% 12% 178
Read jar version information 61% 32% 7% 41
Recovering resources 88% 6% 6% 33
Recursive file listing 74% 15% 11% 1021
Replace a substring 60% 30% 10% 359
Representing money 76% 12% 12% 417
Send an email 57% 23% 20% 1840
Time execution speed 73% 21% 6% 119
Common Design PatternsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Abstract Factory 69% 18% 13% 131
Command objects 58% 16% 26% 19
Factory methods 63% 21% 16% 593
Immutable objects 83% 8% 9% 887
Lazy initialization 75% 16% 9% 128
Model Objects 67% 13% 20% 79
Plugin Factory 74% 13% 13% 23
Private constructor 74% 15% 11% 737
Singleton 73% 18% 9% 272
Template method 72% 21% 8% 53
Type-Safe Enumerations 80% 11% 9% 342
Wrapper (Decorator) 71% 14% 14% 21
Common PracticesYesNoUndecidedVotes
Avoid basic style errors 85% 9% 6% 79
Avoid raw types 78% 15% 7% 148
Beware of instanceof operator 61% 23% 16% 1447
Class for constants 69% 20% 11% 490
Construct classes from the outside in 92% 6% 2% 49
Do not break portability 75% 18% 6% 65
Don't declare local variables before use 59% 26% 15% 185
Fields should usually be private 68% 19% 13% 100
Interface for constants 31% 58% 11% 541
Know the core libraries 90% 1% 9% 78
Minimize ripple effects 90% 4% 6% 98
Naming conventions 32% 61% 7% 285
Nest classes with care 50% 50% 0% 2
Output parameters 43% 38% 19% 129
Separate public and private members 71% 24% 5% 62
String concatenation does not scale 85% 10% 5% 147
Tag or marker interfaces 64% 23% 12% 104
Uncommon classes need explicit imports 77% 13% 10% 79
Use @Override liberally 85% 9% 7% 182
Use final liberally 61% 25% 15% 402
Use javadoc liberally 78% 10% 11% 124
Use static imports rarely 60% 27% 14% 380
Use System.exit with care 67% 19% 14% 514
Use Version Control tools 70% 11% 19% 27
Validate method arguments 66% 22% 11% 166
Wisdom, not rules 100% 0% 0% 22
InheritanceYesNoUndecidedVotes
Consider composition instead of subclassing 77% 8% 15% 128
Designing for subclassing 71% 16% 12% 56
Overridable methods need special care 83% 6% 11% 81
Remember styles of inheritance 92% 0% 8% 40
More Common PracticesYesNoUndecidedVotes
Avoid null if possible 64% 23% 13% 240
Beware of Byte Order Marks 62% 38% 0% 8
Beware of DecimalFormat 44% 33% 23% 153
Beware of floating point numbers 90% 8% 2% 93
Clarifying method 91% 6% 3% 77
Coding conventions 86% 5% 9% 77
Compile regular expressions once 79% 12% 10% 42
Conditional compile 50% 38% 12% 171
Consider code generators 77% 12% 11% 65
Consider immutable forms for dates 46% 39% 15% 46
Conventional name for return value 75% 19% 6% 113
Defensive copying 86% 6% 8% 332
Design by Contract 83% 7% 10% 118
Don't use tab characters 29% 67% 4% 199
Extra space in argument list 20% 73% 7% 476
Generating unique IDs 59% 27% 14% 1499
Include 'from', exclude 'to' 74% 15% 11% 47
Multiple return statements 55% 33% 12% 357
Overloading can be tricky 75% 16% 9% 80
Package by feature, not layer 68% 16% 17% 516
Passwords never in clear text 69% 17% 14% 88
Prefer empty items to null ones 72% 19% 8% 322
Quote dynamic text when logging 85% 9% 6% 67
Self-encapsulate fields 61% 18% 20% 152
Structs are occasionally useful 72% 21% 8% 39
Test using main method 40% 50% 10% 96
Try alternatives to ResourceBundle 30% 38% 32% 50
Use a fake system clock 63% 22% 15% 94
Use a testing framework (JUnit) 83% 9% 8% 100
Use Ant for build scripts 75% 14% 11% 204
Use boxing with care 65% 22% 13% 162
Use enums to restrict arguments 75% 12% 13% 85
Validate state with class invariants 60% 24% 16% 58
Validation belongs in a Model Object 60% 32% 8% 102
AssertionsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Assert is for private arguments only 86% 12% 3% 119
Assert use cases 42% 40% 17% 126
Assertions in general 93% 7% 0% 28
Force enabling of assertions 57% 30% 13% 46
ConstructorsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Avoid JavaBeans style of construction 65% 19% 16% 403
Beware of mistaken field redeclares 83% 10% 7% 30
Construct Object using class name 55% 31% 14% 170
Constructors in general 68% 27% 5% 41
Constructors shouldn't call overridables 58% 26% 16% 120
Constructors shouldn't start threads 82% 6% 12% 17
Copy constructors 65% 23% 12% 867
Don't pass 'this' out of a constructor 67% 22% 11% 18
Initializing fields to 0-false-null is redundant 68% 24% 8% 240
SerializationYesNoUndecidedVotes
Implementing Serializable 65% 17% 18% 831
Serialization and subclassing 53% 31% 16% 85
Some classes need readResolve 79% 11% 11% 57
ThreadsYesNoUndecidedVotes
Always shut down an ExecutorService 76% 12% 13% 223
Avoid ThreadGroup 55% 25% 20% 153
Data integrity first 71% 11% 17% 98
Document thread safety 74% 16% 11% 38
Dump thread information 80% 20% 0% 15
Handle InterruptedException 50% 29% 21% 14
Launch thread is just another user thread 84% 6% 9% 32
Objects communicating across threads 72% 16% 12% 117
Perform N tasks in parallel 69% 13% 18% 117
Prefer modern libraries for concurrency 100% 0% 0% 11
Query host for the number of processors 91% 4% 4% 23
Read-write locks 85% 8% 7% 61
Remember the types of intrinsic lock 81% 10% 9% 243
Schedule periodic tasks 68% 19% 12% 1681
Stop threads through cooperation 63% 29% 8% 147
Synchronize access to mutable fields 54% 31% 16% 166
Synchronized is implementation detail 59% 26% 15% 80
Thread priorities are not portable 69% 17% 14% 35
Use finally to unlock 88% 12% 0% 16
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Individual code snippets can be used under this BSD license - Last updated on September 21, 2013.
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