How to mark logical sections of code in Java comments?

Question

Java classes are generally divided into logical "blocks". Is there a convention to mark these sections? Ideally, it would be supported by the major IDEs.

I personally use this method:

//// Section name here //// 

However, some editors seem to have problems with this.

As an example, in Objective-C code you can use this method:

#pragma mark - #pragma mark Section name here 

This will result in a menu in XCode that looks like this:

Answer 1

For intellij/android studio there is an amazing solution.
Start with:
//region Description
and end with:
//endregion

The shortcut for that is in the menu you can open with Command+Alt+T (Mac) or Ctrl+Alt+T (Windows)

You can also add your own line for additional visual separation if you need it. The region can be contracted and expanded at will with the +/- buttons like any function. You can also navigate between regions with Command+Alt+Period (Ctrl+Alt+Period)

Source.

Example:

//region Parceler Implementation //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @Override public int describeContents() {     return 0; }  @Override public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {     dest.writeParcelable(this.die, 0);     dest.writeParcelable(this.dieSprite, 0); }  private DieVm(Parcel in) {     this.die = in.readParcelable(Die.class.getClassLoader());     this.dieSprite = in.readParcelable(Sprite.class.getClassLoader()); }  public static final Parcelable.Creator<DieVm> CREATOR = new Parcelable.Creator<DieVm>() {     public DieVm createFromParcel(Parcel source) {         return new DieVm(source);     }      public DieVm[] newArray(int size) {         return new DieVm[size];     } }; //--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //endregion 

Answer 2

I personally use 80-chars line separators, like this :

public class Client {      //================================================================================     // Properties     //================================================================================      private String name;     private boolean checked;      //================================================================================     // Constructors     //================================================================================      public Client() {     }      public Client(String name, boolean checked) {         this.name = name;         this.checked = checked;     }      //================================================================================     // Accessors     //================================================================================      public String getName() {         return name;     }      public void setName(String name) {         this.name = name;     }      public boolean isChecked() {         return checked;     }      public void setChecked(boolean checked) {         this.checked = checked;     }  } 

Of course, this may seem a bit overkill for such a small POJO, but believe me, it proved very useful in some huge projects where I had to browse through big source files and quickly find the methods I was interested in. It also helps understand the source code structure.

In Eclipse, I have created a set of custom templates (Java -> Editor -> Templates in Eclipse's Preferences dialog) that generate those bars, eg. - sepa (SEParator for Accessors) - sepp (SEParator for Properties) - sepc (SEParator for Constructors) - etc.

I also modified the standard "new class" template (Java -> Code Style -> Code Templates in Eclipse Preferences screen)

Also, there is an old Eclipse plugin called Coffee-bytes, which enhanced the way Eclipse folds portions of code. I don't know if it still works, but I remembed one could define arbitrary foldable zones by adding special comments, like // [SECTION] or something. It might still work in recent Eclipse revisions, so take a look.