Java class library search technology

ProgramRelease of essential Java APIs and Class search Auxiliary Tools

According to foreign media reports, researchers at the computer department of Carnegie Mellon University recently developed two tools to help programmers select the appropriate API from thousands of Java APIs.

The two tools are named jadeite and apatite respectively. They use a human-centered design technology, greatly reducing the time needed to search for appropriate classes and APIs. Choosing the right API for a program is not that intuitive, said Brad A. Myers, a professor of human-computer interaction. Currently, the javadoc library contains 35000 methods in 4100 classes, and these numbers are constantly expanding, because each time a new version of Java is released, a batch of new APIs will be added. Even the best developers are not fully familiar with these Apis.

This is a basic problem for all programmers, no matter whether they are cainiao or experts, Myers said, although it can make API design easier and easier to use, however, it is still difficult to use a large number of important APIs used in Java programming. Jadeite and apatite can help programmers select what they need from existing APIs.

Jadeite (Http://www.cs.cmu.edu /~ Jadeite) Is the abbreviation of Java documentation with extra information Tacked-on for emphasis. It can display the API name in different font sizes Based on the API usage frequency provided by Google search. For example, the frequently used printwriter will be displayed with a large letter, while the infrequently used printevent will be displayed with a small character.

Jadeite also uses the crowd-sourcing technology to solve the problem that some APIs do not, as the name implies, contain the methods that programmers want to use. For example, the message and mimemessage classes do not contain email sending methods. Therefore, jadeite allows different users to add a thing called placeholder to the classes and methods they need. Users can edit placeholder to provide guidance to programmers. In placeholder, you can tell programmers the exact location of the methods they need.

In addition, some objects are not very familiar to programmers, such as SSL sockets. In this case, jadeite contains the most commonCodeYou can get inspiration from these code examples.

User trials show that using Jadeite is three times more efficient than using standard javadoc.

Apatite (Http://www.cs.cmu.edu /~ Apatite) Is the abbreviation of associative perusal of APIs that identifies targets easily. Its implementation method is different from jadeite, which allows programmers to browse the relationship between APIs, you can view the relationships between different packages, classes, and methods.

Jadeite and apatite are currently in the experimental research phase, but they can be used by the public. The promotion of these two tools will enhance their functionality in crowdsourcing. They can also provide significant feedback to researchers to continue improving them. Translated by Cao Si Jia)

Small Data: crowdsourcing technology originally refers to the development of low-wage or unpaid recruitment of unspecified numbers of people willing to participate in the development of products and services. In the field of software developmentSource codeThe form of open source code to the Internet, people around the world gathered through the Internet, the use of spare time to work, so that the software is more complete.
Crowdsourcing means that users can add instructions for the API, which can be shared by other users through the Internet.