{{short description|Documentation generator for Java}}
{{how-to|date=August 2023}}
'''Javadoc''' is a [[documentation generator]] created by [[Sun Microsystems]] for the [[Java (programming language)|Java programming language]]. (nowIt owned by [[Oracle Corporation]]) for generatinggenerates [[Application programming interface|API]] documentation in [[HTML]] format from [[Java (programming language)|Java]] source code. The HTML format is used for adding the convenience of being able to [[hyperlink]] related documents together.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://agile.csc.ncsu.edu/SEMaterials/tutorials/javadoc/ |title=Javadoc |website=agile.csc.ncsu.edu |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613233020/http://agile.csc.ncsu.edu/SEMaterials/tutorials/javadoc/ |archive-date=13 June 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was created by [[Sun Microsystems]] and is owned by [[Oracle Corporation|Oracle]] today.
The "docJavadoc comments"comment format<ref>{{cite web|url = http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/tooldocs/solaris/javadoc.html|title = javadoc - The Java API Documentation Generator|access-date = 2011-09-30|publisher = [[Sun Microsystems]]}}.</ref> used by Javadoc is the de facto industry standard for documenting Java classes. Some [[Integrated Development Environment|IDE]]s,<ref>[https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/ IntelliJ IDEA], [http://www.netbeans-blog.org/netbeans-ide/generating-javadoc-for-a-project-in-netbeans-ide.html NetBeans] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405230224/http://www.netbeans-blog.org/netbeans-ide/generating-javadoc-for-a-project-in-netbeans-ide.html |date=2017-04-05 }} and [http://www.eclipse.org/ Eclipse]</ref> like [[IntelliJ IDEA]], [[NetBeans]] and [[Eclipse (software)|Eclipse]], automatically generate Javadoc templates. Many file editors assist the user in producing Javadoc source and useshow the Javadoc info as(via internalhover referencesover an associated symbol for theexample) to assist with programmerprogramming.
Javadoc also provides an API for creating [[doclets]] and taglets, which allows users to analyze the structure of a Java application. This is how JDiff can generate reports of what changed between two versions of an API.
