Could someone tell me the difference between javadoc @see and {@link}?
Or rather, when to use which of them?
Answer
The official guidelines on this are pretty clear.
The functional differences are:
{@link}is an inline link and can be placed wherever you like@seecreates its own section
In my opinion, {@link} is best used when you literally use a class, field, constructor or method name in your description. The user will be able to click through to the javadoc of what you've linked.
I use the @see annotation in 2 cases:
- Something is very relevant but not mentioned in the description.
- I refer to the same thing multiple times in the description, and it is used as a replacement for multiple links to the same.
I based this opinion on randomly checking out documentation for a great variety of things in the standard library.