Question

Is there a Java convention to refer to methods, static and otherwise, any specific one or the whole overload, etc?

e.g.

• String.valueOf – referring to all overloads of static valueOf
  • String.valueOf(char) – specific overload, formal parameter name omittable?
• String.split – looks like a static method, but actually an instance method
  • Maybe aString.split is the convention?
  • Or maybe String().split?
• String#split – I’ve seen this HTML anchor form too, which I guess is javadoc-influenced

Is there an authoritative recommendation on how to clearly refer to these things?

Answer 1

Using Class.methodName to refer to all overloads and Class.methodName(type) to refer to a specific overload is indeed the convention (as recommended by sun in this style guide for javadocs). However there is no convention to distinguish between static and non-static methods (though aString.split would make sense).