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A Short Review of JIndent - The Java Beautifier
By
Richard Wiener

Having worked in the past on multi-person Java software development projects it has become evident how important it is to establish a uniform coding style and format across a project. It is often challenging enough to read and understand another team member's code. This task is made easier if the code being studied conforms in style to a common standard. Many organizations require a standard coding style.

JIndent written by Tobias Andree and Andreas Dangberg of Software & Solutions in Paderborn Germany (www.jindent.com) is a tool specifically designed to establish a Java coding standard and then enforce this standard throughout a project.

I have used Version 3.23 Basic and Gold. The desired formatting style is established through a property file. This file provides the user many degrees of freedom in establishing a desired coding standard. Both horizontal as well as vertical spacing may be controlled through parameter settings in the property file. Options for formatting comments are also provided. Standard headers and footers may be inserted into each source file that is converted. The user also has the option of having no such insertions if desired.

The list of possible formatting options is too long to enumerate (dozens of formatting options). I have found that the numerous parameter settings in the property file provide the user with excellent fine-grained control over formatting appearance. The Gold version of the product allows the user to more quickly see the effect of changing a parameter in the properties file through a graphical user interface. Besides this small advantage, both versions of the product provide the same functionality in establishing a common Java coding style and standard. One can of course customize several property files, each establishing its own coding style standard.

JIndent is written in Java. The installation of the program is simple and well documented. Once a jar file is installed with a CLASSPATH pointing to it, the program may be invoked from a Command Shell with a choice of various parameters. JIndent may be applied to an entire subdirectory of Java source files at once. Many examples of usage are provided in the well-written 41 pages of documentation that you may download from their website. The documentation comes with a detailed index that makes it easy to navigate and find information quickly.

I believe that JIndent is a finely polished software tool that should be of great value to Java programmers working alone or in a team environment. I highly recommend this product.