TABLE OF CONTENTS
Effective Java Programming Language Guide
by Joshua Bloch
Foreword by Guy Steele

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

1 Introduction

2 Creating and Destroying Objects

Item 1: Consider providing static factory methods instead of constructors
Item 2: Enforce the singleton property with a private constructor
Item 3: Enforce noninstantiability with a private constructor
Item 4: Avoid creating duplicate objects
Item 5: Eliminate obsolete object references
Item 6: Avoid finalizers

3 Methods Common to All Objects

Item 7: Obey the general contract when overriding equals
Item 8: Always override hashCode when you override equals
Item 9: Always override toString
Item 10: Override clone judiciously
Item 11: Consider implementing Comparable

4 Classes and Interfaces

Item 12: Minimize the accessibility of classes and members
Item 13: Favor immutability
Item 14: Favor composition over inheritance
Item 15: Design and document for inheritance or else prohibit it
Item 16: Prefer interfaces to abstract classes
Item 17: Use interfaces only to define types
Item 18: Favor static member classes over nonstatic

5 Substitutes for C Constructs

Item 19: Replace structures with classes
Item 20: Replace unions with class hierarchies
Item 21: Replace enum constructs with classes
Item 22: Replace function pointers with classes and interfaces

6 Methods

Item 23: Check parameters for validity
Item 24: Make defensive copies when needed
Item 25: Design method signatures carefully
Item 26: Use overloading judiciously
Item 27: Return zero-length arrays, not nulls
Item 28: Write doc comments for all exposed API elements

7 General Programming

Item 29: Minimize the scope of local variables
Item 30: Know and use the libraries
Item 31: Avoid float and double if exact answers are required
Item 32: Avoid strings where other types are more appropriate
Item 33: Beware the performance of string concatenation
Item 34: Refer to objects by their interfaces
Item 35: Prefer interfaces to reflection
Item 36: Use native methods judiciously
Item 37: Optimize judiciously
Item 38: Adhere to generally accepted naming conventions

8 Exceptions

Item 39: Use exceptions only for exceptional conditions
Item 40: Use checked exceptions for recoverable conditions and run-time exceptions for programming errors
Item 41: Avoid unnecessary use of checked exceptions
Item 42: Favor the use of standard exceptions
Item 43: Throw exceptions appropriate to the abstraction
Item 44: Document all exceptions thrown by each method
Item 45: Include failure-capture information in detail messages
Item 46: Strive for failure atomicity
Item 47: Don't ignore exceptions

9 Threads

Item 48: Synchronize access to shared mutable data
Item 49: Avoid excessive synchronization
Item 50: Never invoke wait outside a loop
Item 51: Don't depend on the thread scheduler
Item 52: Document thread safety
Item 53: Avoid thread groups

10 Serialization

Item 54: Implement Serializable judiciously
Item 55: Consider using a custom serialized form
Item 56: Write readObject methods defensively
Item 57: Provide a readResolve method when necessary