Most development teams would prefer the latter. This document provides a map so that the code generated by a group of programmers will be consistent, and therefore, easier to read and maintain. This is certainly not the only way a java program can be written, but for groups that adopt this standard, it is the only way that their code will be written. This document covers most areas where there could be confusion or difference of opinion. Areas that have never been a problem in our experience are undocumented, but we do provide at least one example to demonstrate proper use somewhere in the document.
All indents are four spaces.
Matching braces are always in the same column as their construct. All indenting is done with spaces, not tabs. Most programs will mix tabs and spaces so that some lines are indented with spaces and some with tabs. If your tabbing is set to four and you share a file with someone that has tabbing set to 8, everything comes out goofy. All if, while and for statements must use braces even if they control just one statement.