1.3.8 Capitalization and Commenting Conventions

By convention, Java programs are written entirely in lower case characters with three exceptions.

• The first letter of class names are capitalized to distinguish class names from member names.
• The names of constant static final fields are written entirely capital letters. For example, the static final fields in the preceding subsection are all capitalized according to this convention.
• The first letter in each word of a multi-word identifier after the first is capitalized. For example, the built-in Java class Object includes a method called toString() that we will discuss later. The capital S signifies the beginning of a word within the multi-word name toString().

These conventions are not enforced by Java compilers, but it is considered bad style to violate them. A related convention is to never use the special character $ in a name; this character is reserved for the use of the Java compiler. Unfortunately, most Java compilers do not enforce this convention.

Java relies on commenting conventions similar to those in C++. A comment that is confined to a single line begins with the character sequence // and ends at the end of the line. Longer comments must be enclosed between the opening ``bracket'' /* and ``closing'' bracket */. Examples of both form of comments appear in Section 1.6. Note that a bracketed comment can appear in the middle of a line of code.

Finger Exercise 1.3.8.1: add both forms of comment to the Conversions and Person classes from the preceding exercise.