@kcooney super is first of all a keyword - the same way if and switch are, the fact that it translates to an <init> method call is a mere implementation detail - making it rather a constructor call. Constructors and methods are different entities according to Java Language Specification, are not they?
Here are my concerns:
- The presence of code conventions didn't stop Sun/Oracle from violating the rules nearly everywhere, just check, say, BigInteger.
- If that's of so much importance, why not validating format using, say, checkstyle plugin during compile phase and safing us some time enforcing the rules during pull requests? :)