CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaandroidnaming-conventionspackageconventions
Mike
Mike

Reputation: 49463

What's the convention for java package names without a domain association?

I can't find a Q/A on SO that answers my exact question, so I figure I'd post it and see what comes back.

As far as the naming convention goes for Java packages, I understand that it's supposed to be the reverse domain name: com.whatever.stuff and I get the rules about no mixed case, hyphens, keywords, etc.

I've also read section 7.7 (Unique-Package-Names) of the Java Language Specification. As far as I can tell, the rules from Java are to use the reverse domain to insure uniqueness... and if you don't have one, go get one:

You form a unique package name by first having (or belonging to an organization that has) an Internet domainname, such as sun.com. - Section 7.7

So if I'm not interested in shelling out the money for a domain name, I don't belong to a company whose name I can piggyback off of, is there any part of the naming convention that I'm missing that should be followed? I'm thinking I can just go name it whatever unique name I feel like at this point, but I was just wondering if I was missing anything.

Note: I would like to release my package for other developers to use, so I didn’t want to just do something that worked on my system, but something more standard if possible.

I added the android tag because the java packages I'm going to be writing are going to be used in an Android application, wasn't sure if there were different opinions from android developers.

Upvotes: 55

Views: 26947

Answers (5)

arshajii
arshajii

Reputation: 129537

If you are going to be distributing a lot of stuff, I would really suggest getting a domain name. Another alternative however would be to use your e-mail: e.g. [email protected] would become com.gmail.bob. This is less common than using domain names but is still done by some and still ensures uniqueness.

Upvotes: 44

Jannis Froese
Jannis Froese

Reputation: 1407

If you are the only coder, you can just use your name. My name is Jannis Froese, so I would use

jannisfroese.projectname.stuff

or if you want to stay with 'valid' domain names

localhost.jannisfroese.projectname.stuff

(localhost is a reserved top level domain)

Of course this only works if your name is sufficiently unique, so that a collision is unlikely enough

Upvotes: 5

Grundlefleck
Grundlefleck

Reputation: 129327

One convention is to use the domain name of the hosting provider, e.g.

com.github.myrepositoryname
net.sf.sourceforge.myproject
com.googlecode.myproject

Benefits:

Drawbacks:

  • if you decide to change providers, you either have package structures which are out-of-date, or you introduce backward-incompatible changes to keep the source in line with your new provider

Upvotes: 44

GreyBeardedGeek
GreyBeardedGeek

Reputation: 30088

Domain names can be had for free. For example dyn.com offers free domain names of the form 'whatever.dyndns.org' at http://free.domain.name/

Upvotes: 6

Makoto
Makoto

Reputation: 106470

In a professional environment, the convention is to use reverse domain. In an environment that's more associated with yourself, you can use org.projectname.packagename.*.

It's a convention, not a hard and fast rule. You're free to use whichever domain naming style you like.

Upvotes: 1

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