Best Practices

Best Practices

About

• Encapsulation: Minimize public surface
• Documentation: Comment public APIs
• Testing: Strategies for private members
• Evolution: Managing breaking changes

Main Topics

1. When to Use Private

   • Definition: Appropriate encapsulation
   • Example:

     // Make private:
     // - Implementation details
     // - Internal state
     // - Helper methods

2. Library Design

   • Definition: Planning visibility
   • Example:

     // Good practice:
     // lib/   - public API
     // lib/src - implementation

3. Documentation

   • Definition: Public API comments
   • Example:

     /// Public method that does X
     void publicMethod() {
       _privateHelper();
     }

4. Testing Private Members

   • Definition: Access strategies
   • Example:

     // Option 1: Test via public API
     // Option 2: Put tests in same library

5. Breaking Changes

   • Definition: Versioning private
   • Example:

     // Private members can change freely
     // Public API needs versioning

How to Use

• Start Private: Reveal as needed
• Review Exports: Minimize public API
• Document: All public members
• Test: Through public interfaces

How It Works

1. Maintenance: Private gives flexibility
2. Stability: Public requires care
3. Tooling: dartdoc for public API
4. Analysis: Lints for visibility

Example:

// Good practice example:
library safe_encryption;

export 'src/aes.dart' show AESCipher;
export 'src/rsa.dart' show RSACipher;

// src/ contains all implementation
// with proper private visibility

Conclusion

Effective use of Dart’s access modifiers requires balancing encapsulation with usability. By keeping implementation details private, carefully designing public APIs, and thoroughly documenting exposed functionality, developers can create maintainable, robust libraries that stand the test of time.