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Trail: Learning the Java Language
Lesson: Packages
Section: Creating and Using Packages
Packages
Creating and Using Packages
Creating a Package
Naming a Package
Using Package Members
Managing Source and Class Files
Summary of Creating and Using Packages
Questions and Exercises
Home Page > Learning the Java Language > Packages
Naming a Package

> With programmers worldwide writing classes and interfaces using the Java programming language, it is likely that many programmers will use the same name for different types. In fact, the previous example does just that: It defines a `Rectangle` class when there is already a `Rectangle` class in the `java.awt` package. Still, the compiler allows both classes to have the same name if they are in different packages. The fully qualified name of each `Rectangle` class includes the package name. That is, the fully qualified name of the `Rectangle` class in the `graphics` package is `graphics.Rectangle`, and the fully qualified name of the `Rectangle` class in the `java.awt` package is `java.awt.Rectangle`.

> This works well unless two independent programmers use the same name for their packages. What prevents this problem? Convention.

> ### Naming Conventions

> Package names are written in all lowercase to avoid conflict with the names of classes or interfaces.

> Companies use their reversed Internet domain name to begin their package names—for example, `com.example.orion` for a package named `orion` created by a programmer at `example.com`.

> Name collisions that occur within a single company need to be handled by convention within that company, perhaps by including the region or the project name after the company name (for example, `com.company.region.package`).

> Packages in the Java language itself begin with `java.` or `javax.`

> In some cases, the internet domain name may not be a valid package name. This can occur if the domain name contains a hyphen or other special character, if the package name begins with a digit or other character that is illegal to use as the beginning of a Java name, or if the package name contains a reserved Java keyword, such as "int". In this event, the suggested convention is to add an underscore. For example:

> Legalizing Package Names
> Domain Name | Package Name Prefix
> --- | ---
> clipart-open.org | org.clipart_open
> free.fonts.int | int_.fonts.free
> poetry.7days.com | com._7days.poetry

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