Alex and Frank, In terms of conventions, the APIs exposed Java SDK and many other common APIs following this convention. Hence, the reason for my suggestion.
The notion that changing an enum key can break the API and/or database persistence feels a bit brittle. In particular, it doesn't conform to the Law of Least Surprise. It feels like we should have a transformation mechanism from the API endpoint to an enum value, and employ foreign, artificial keys to code tables in schema. This conversation has expanded a bit, and it seems appropriate to open a new [DISCUSS] thread to delve into it further. Do y'all agree? Thanks, -John On Jul 18, 2013, at 7:19 PM, Frank Zhang <frank.zh...@citrix.com> wrote: > Those enums cannot be simply considered as internal data structures where > code convention applies to, they should be considered in API level. > > Most CloudStack API responses retrieve its fields from xxxVO classes which > represent database table. In our example, enum State directly maps to > UserVmResponse. state. Then the most important factor of name convention is > user experience where Running is more user friendly than IS_RUNNING > or whatever all capitalized sentence splitting by underscore. > > And any changes to those existing enum should be thought twice, as it relates > to API compatibility. > > Though we can introduce some mapping layer between internal enum and API > response, I don't see any benefits if the only reason is to follow some name > convention. > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Alex Huang [mailto:alex.hu...@citrix.com] >> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 3:55 PM >> To: dev@cloudstack.apache.org >> Subject: RE: code formatting for enums >> >> Actually, that's more of a C/C++ coding convention. (Speaking of which, >> please >> don't use "I" to start interfaces.) >> >> I prefer to have enums as follows >> >> Public class Vm { >> enum State { >> IsRunning, >> Stopped, >> } >> } >> >> I generally like to write Vm.State.IsRunning in the code. It's readable >> and clear. >> >> As opposed to Vm.State.IS_RUNNING which is a little less readable. >> >> But the thing I've seen people do is just using IS_RUNNING or State.IsRunning >> which often becomes confusing. I'm more against that then all caps and >> underscore. >> >> My $.02. I will caution that any change to existing enums, we have to think >> about how it maps to the database. If the VO object stores the enum, you'll >> have to either upgrade the database or add methods to the enum so that when >> storing it, it becomes the same. >> >> --Alex >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: John Burwell [mailto:jburw...@basho.com] >>> Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 12:33 PM >>> To: dev@cloudstack.apache.org >>> Subject: Re: code formatting for enums >>> >>> All, >>> >>> Another thing I have noticed is that enum values are not capitalized. >>> General coding convention is that enum values are declared in all caps >>> using an underscore to separate words. I notice that our coding >>> conventions are silent on enumerations. Any opposition to adding this >>> rule to our coding conventions? >>> >>> Thanks, >>> -John >>> >>> On Jul 17, 2013, at 12:24 PM, Alex Huang <alex.hu...@citrix.com> wrote: >>> >>>> That's because the first rule of auto-formatting is do no harm. >>>> >>>> The formatter is set not to screw with lines that are already >>>> wrapped >>> assuming the previous developer intended it that way. >>>> >>>> --Alex >>>> >>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>> From: Daan Hoogland [mailto:daan.hoogl...@gmail.com] >>>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 8:23 AM >>>>> To: dev >>>>> Subject: Re: code formatting for enums >>>>> >>>>> thanks, >>>>> it doesn't correct back to the one per line format, but at least it >>>>> doesn't garble the enum when right anymore. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 4:24 PM, Alex Huang <alex.hu...@citrix.com> >>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Windows->Preferences >>>>>> Java->Formatter >>>>>> Click on Edit in Active Profiles >>>>>> Line Wrapping tab >>>>>> Look for 'enum' declaration->Constants Select Wrap all elements, >>>>>> every element on a new line in the "Line Wrapping policy:" drop >>>>>> down >>>>>> >>>>>> --Alex >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>>> -----Original Message----- >>>>>>> From: Daan Hoogland [mailto:daan.hoogl...@gmail.com] >>>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2013 6:22 AM >>>>>>> To: dev >>>>>>> Subject: code formatting for enums >>>>>>> >>>>>>> H, >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I am working on Networks with the eclipse.epf file loaded. Now >>>>>>> the enum BroadcastDomainType gets saved as >>>>>>> Native(null, null), Vlan("vlan", Integer.class), Vswitch("vs", >>>>>>> String.class), LinkLocal(null, null), Vnet("vnet", >>>>>> Long.class), Storage( >>>>>>> "storage", Integer.class), Lswitch("lswitch", >>>>>> String.class), Mido( >>>>>>> "mido", String.class), Pvlan("pvlan", >>>>>>> String.class), >>>>>> UnDecided( >>>>>>> null, null); >>>>>>> instead of >>>>>>> Native(null, null), >>>>>>> Vlan("vlan", Integer.class), >>>>>>> Vswitch("vs", String.class), >>>>>>> LinkLocal(null, null), >>>>>>> Vnet("vnet", Long.class), >>>>>>> Storage("storage", Integer.class), >>>>>>> Lswitch("lswitch", String.class), >>>>>>> Mido("mido", String.class), >>>>>>> Pvlan("pvlan", String.class), >>>>>>> UnDecided(null, null); >>>>>>> anybody know how to fix this? >>>>>>> >>>>>>> thanks, >>>>>>> Daan >>>>>> >