Similar to link dumps, as I come across tips and ideas, that alone may not justify a blog post, but I think may be useful, I will bundle them into these posts. Some of these tips may be obvious, others esoteric, and some representing my personal preference, but I think there should be something in here for everybody. Let me know if you have any others you want me to add.

Use interfaces instead of implementations – This increases code portability and modifiability by not tying a method to a specific implementation of a type.

Delete unused code – Unless you know the code will be used in the future remove it from your code base. Code that isn't there can't be broken and does not need to be debugged. If you do need the code, you can always retrieve it from your source repository.

Don't use maps in place of beans – If you are using a map to hold different types of objects, then you should create a bean to hold that information. Beans have a contract, so you and every other developer can easily figure out what data that bean contains.

Only have one return statement in a method – Control from a method should only leave in one area. By having multiple return statements it becomes more difficult to understand the flow of a program. Having multiple returns may also be suggest of a method that should be further broken down.

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