I've been browsing some open source projects lately and have been seeing a fair amount of source code without Javadoc comments. One of my favorite features in NetBeans IDE 6.0 is that it provides an editor hint that will create a Javadoc comment. That hint, however, is turned off by default.

This is best shown through examples. The file below is from the source for javac:

The IDE would be happy to add a Javadoc comment above line 56. And to repair the Javadoc comments above lines 69 and 78. But there are no hint icons in the margin to indicate that until I turn on that option:

Notice the dropdown list is set to Warning on Current Line which means the cursor has to be on the line that needs the Javadoc before the hint icon is displayed. So if I put the cursor on line 56 the icon appears:

If I click that icon with the mouse or press the Alt-Enter key on the keyboard the IDE will offer to insert the appropriate Javadoc comment. An option to reduce visual clutter by limiting the display of the hint to only when the cursor is on the line is very handy (not all tools are this flexible).

If, on the other hand, I want to see all Javadoc hints that are available regardless of the cursor position I can change the option to either Warning:

Or Error: