Coding Standards

jhelm Coding Standards

Style

• Indentation: Tabs (enforced by spring-javaformat-maven-plugin)
• Naming: Classes PascalCase, methods/variables camelCase, constants UPPER_SNAKE_CASE
• Javadoc: HTML tags for links, {@code true}/{@code false} for booleans, accurate @param/@return tags

Lombok

• @Getter/@Setter for simple fields, @Data for POJOs/DTOs
• @Builder, @NoArgsConstructor, @AllArgsConstructor for complex objects
• @Slf4j for logging
• @Accessors(fluent = true) for internal DSL-like classes

Modern Java 21

• Text blocks ("""...""") for multi-line strings
• Enhanced switch (arrow syntax)
• Streams/Lambdas for collection manipulation
• try-with-resources for system resource streams (e.g., Files.walk())

Error Handling

• SLF4J via @Slf4j — no System.out.println in production code (CLI output in jhelm-app is the exception)
• Descriptive exceptions; always include original cause when rethrowing
• Prefer must* function variants when strict validation is required

Dependencies

• Manage versions in root pom.xml <dependencyManagement>
• Define dependency versions as properties in root pom.xml <properties> (unless managed by Spring Boot parent)
• Keep jhelm-gotemplate free of Spring dependencies

Size Guidelines

Two thresholds apply — consider and enforce:

Consider (500 lines / 50 lines): A warning signal. Before adding more code to a large file or method, ask whether it should be split. Extract helpers, separate concerns, or move related methods to a dedicated class.

Enforce (1000 lines / 80 lines): Hard limit. The build fails at validate phase. Refactoring is required — no exceptions except the suppressions below.

Current suppressions (checkstyle-suppressions.xml):

• Lexer.java, Parser.java — state machines; long methods are inherent to the pattern
• HelmChartTemplates.java — methods return static YAML text blocks, not logic
• *Test.java — test files are exempt from both size limits

Checkstyle Rules (enforced — violations fail build)

• Catch variable: must be ex, not e (SpringCatch)
• Braces required: if/else/for/while always need {} (NeedBraces)
• Lambda params: single-param lambdas need parens: (r) -> ... not r -> ... (SpringLambda)
• Lambda blocks: -> { return x; } → -> x when body is single expression (SpringLambda)
• Ternary conditions: wrap in parens: (a != null) ? x : y (SpringTernary)
• No star imports: expand .* to explicit class imports (AvoidStarImport)
• Inner classes last: inner/nested types must appear after all methods (InnerTypeLast)
• Utility classes: must have private Constructor() {} AND be final (SpringHideUtilityClassConstructor + FinalClass)
• Annotation arrays: no trailing comma before }) in @CsvSource, etc. (AnnotationUseStyle)

Auto-fix: ./mvnw spring-javaformat:apply then use the /checkstyle skill for remaining violations.

Testing

• JUnit 5 (org.junit.jupiter.api) with Assertions
• @TempDir for temporary files
• Always run tests after code changes

Test Data: Prefer Real over Mocks

Prefer real test data over mocks. Mocks are slow to maintain, hide intent, and test the wrong thing when the real thing is easy to use.

When Mockito IS appropriate:

• HTTP client (CloseableHttpClient) — network I/O has no real alternative
• Kubernetes client (KubeService) — requires a live cluster
• External services with no local substitute

Creating minimal test charts — place in src/test/resources/test-charts/<name>/:

Chart.yaml   (name, version, apiVersion)
values.yaml  (minimal defaults)
templates/   (one simple template)

Use new TarArchiveOutputStream(new GzipCompressorOutputStream(...)) in a helper method when a .tgz is needed in-memory.

Parameterized Tests

Use @ParameterizedTest to avoid code duplication and loops in tests. Prefer parameterized tests over:

• Multiple near-identical @Test methods that differ only in input/expected values
• for loops inside test methods that iterate over test cases
• Copy-pasted test logic with different data

Common sources:

• @CsvSource — inline comma-separated values for simple types
• @ValueSource — single-argument tests with strings, ints, etc.
• @MethodSource — complex objects or multi-arg via static factory method returning Stream<Arguments>
• @EnumSource — iterate over enum values

Example — prefer this:

@ParameterizedTest
@CsvSource({
    "hello, HELLO",
    "world, WORLD",
    "'', ''"
})
void testUpperCase(String input, String expected) {
    assertEquals(expected, input.toUpperCase());
}

Over this:

@Test
void testUpperCase() {
    assertEquals("HELLO", "hello".toUpperCase());
    assertEquals("WORLD", "world".toUpperCase());
    assertEquals("", "".toUpperCase());
}

Use @MethodSource for complex data:

@ParameterizedTest
@MethodSource("templateTestCases")
void testTemplateRendering(String template, Map<String, Object> data, String expected) {
    // ...
}

static Stream<Arguments> templateTestCases() {
    return Stream.of(
        Arguments.of("{{ .name }}", Map.of("name", "Alice"), "Alice"),
        Arguments.of("{{ .count }}", Map.of("count", 42), "42")
    );
}