Java Pointers / Links

• strength and limitations of for each loop (for( : ))
  http://today.java.net/article/2006/11/03/nuances-java-50-each-loop


• Loading properties/configurationfiles


• Java 5 New Features
  http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/relnotes/features.html
  http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/releases/j2se15/
  http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/index.html


• Increase Java Performance
  http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/Programming/Performance/


• Java Language Best Practices
  http://docs.oracle.com/cd/A97688_16/generic.903/bp/java.htm


• Code Conventions for the Java Programming Language
  http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/codeconv-138413.html


• ThreadLocal - http://java.dzone.com/articles/java-thread-local-%E2%80%93-how-use


• String Concatenation
  - use plus operator(+) only if all operands are constants
  

      1) String temp = “alpha” + “beta”;
           '-> String temp = “alphabeta”; (compile time translation)
      2) String temp = x + “beta”;
           '-> String temp = (new StringBuilder()).append(x).append(“beta”).toString();

  - concat using plus operator uses StringBuilder and String behind the scenes:

      “alpha” + “beta” = new StringBuilder(String.toString(“alpha”)).append(“beta”).toString()

  - use String.concat if concatenating only 2 or few strings
  - use StringBuilder(unsynchronized)/StringBuffer(synchronized) for more than 2 strings, specially in a loop
  - in a loop, SB is better than concat is better than +
  - always initialize SB with initial capacity to greatly improve performance
  

  new SB() has 16 char initial capacity by default

  
  - best explanation is here: http://www.znetdevelopment.com/blogs/2009/04/06/java-string-concatenation/


• character set conversion

String stringToConvert = bmText;
byte[] convertStringToByte = stringToConvert.getBytes("UTF-8");
bmText = new String(convertStringToByte, "ISO-8859-1");
options.add(new SelectOption(bmValue, new String(bmText)));



• creating pdf
-header w/ image


  public void doHeader() throws Exception {
      Image logoImage = PDFUO.getLogoImage();
      //logoImage.setAbsolutePosition(ReportConstantsIF.ITEXT_POINTS/2, length - ReportConstantsIF.ITEXT_POINTS);
      logoImage.setAlignment(Image.ALIGN_TOP | Image.TEXTWRAP);
    
      Paragraph p = new Paragraph();
      p.add(logoImage);
      p.add(new Phrase("BEAR, STEARNS SECURITIES CORP." + "\n\n", new Font(Font.TIMES_ROMAN, 6, Font.BOLD)));
p.add(new Phrase(
        "ONE METROTECH CENTER NORTH" + "\n" +
  "BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11201-3859" + "\n" +
  "(212) 272-1000", smallFont));
      p.setLeading(9f);
    
      HeaderFooter header = new HeaderFooter(p, false);
      header.setAlignment(Element.ALIGN_RIGHT);
      header.setBorder(PdfTable.NO_BORDER);

      document.setHeader(header);
  }


-error occurs and data is not displayed when the columns in a row is not complete in PdfPTable