Good Programming Pratice

Question

Hi,
I am a Java Programmer that do programming. Not an expert but still learning. I have a scenario in building codes with java good pratices.
Scenario:
I have coded a Java Program with following structure in seebeyond:
public void receive(){
a = startProcess(String, object, object);
public ArrayList startProcess(String, object, object){
addressObject = createNewAddress(String, object, object);
arrayList.add(addressObject);
return arrayList;
public Object createNewAddress(String, object, object){
object = constructAddressObject(String, object);
return object;
public void constructAddressObject(String, object){
object.setAddress1 = 'A';
object.setAddress2 = 'B';
}the question here is the void constructAddressObject function.
1.Shall i use void here or it is a good practice if i return a back the object i set earlier ?
2.What will be the drawback if i use void and if i chose to return a value, and what will be the Java good pratice in coding this since both void and returning a value works here.
3.My supervisor raise a issue that it is unsafe if i use void in this situation, is that true ? He wants me to change to return back the object.
hope to get some good advice here.

Answer 1

1.Shall i use void here or it is a good practice if i
return a back the object i set earlier ? From your code, it looks like you are changing the state of the object only. So, it is fine to use void. If you had some complex operations performed, you should return a boolean to indicate the status of the actions.
2.What will be the drawback if i use void and if i
chose to return a value, and what will be the Java
good pratice in coding this since both void and
returning a value works here.This should be decided in the design phase. Your method should either return a value and the type should be known, or it should not return anything. Is there any prupose for returning a value from that method?
3.My supervisor raise a issue that it is unsafe if i
use void in this situation, is that true ? He wants
me to change to return back the object. If you are directly modifying the state of the object by calling its method, as I assume your case to be, I don't see any reason for returning an object back. If this is not the case, your supervisor might be correct. The "correct" practice would be decided by the purpose of the method.