Post

I might give this new #java code formatter a try!

Foojay, the Friends Of OpenJDK@foojay.io

Java formatters: can't live with them, can't live without them. New post on Foojay by Alex Abashev about the tricky balance between automated formatting and personal coding style. foojay.io/today/my-lov... #Java #CodeFormatting #DevLife

foojay.ioMy love-hate relationship with Java formattersLearning to love google-java-format, why AI agents make formatters matter even more, and why palantir-java-format now has a fork: open-java-format.

30/9/26, 11:56 am0 reposts3 likes

Brice Dutheil

@bricedutheil.bsky.social

Tested it on 6k java file project * Without parameter wrapping, it leaves dense signatures, with several params on one line * TableTest compat, the formatter reflows long Strings requiring a custom setup to disabled this * JVM integrations need explicit exports * Native bin is 3x slower than Java

Brice Dutheil

@bricedutheil.bsky.social

There's also Prince of Spaces that is interesting and similar in intent and output. However these new formatters are pretty young. The challenge is having maintenance.

Rafael Winterhalter

@rafaelcodes.bsky.social

You'd think that the modern ones should optimize for grepability so coding agents can easily find their way around a code base. Maybe one should make one of those.

Brice Dutheil

@bricedutheil.bsky.social

There's still ast grep github.com/ast-grep/ast...

github.comGitHub - ast-grep/ast-grep: ⚡A CLI tool for code structural search, lint and rewriting. Written in Rust⚡A CLI tool for code structural search, lint and rewriting. Written in Rust - ast-grep/ast-grep

Guillaume Laforge

@glaforge.dev

The Open Java formatter mentioned in the article seems to say it's agent friendly. Might be it?

Rafael Winterhalter

@rafaelcodes.bsky.social

I think agent-first would look a lot different than something based on the current standard formats. No need to linebreak long lines, for example. Best if they grep as one unit.