Should I use /* */ or /** */ for the copyright in the top of a java file?

Question

There is a copyright comment in each java file, but I don't know which one should I use: /* */ or /** */?

 /*
  * Copyright ...
  */
 import java.util.*
 ...

or

/**
 * Copyright ...
 */
import java.util.*
....

Answer 1

This rather old (circa 1999) Sun coding conventions document suggests /* */.

More specifically, it suggests the following layout for your class/interface file(s):

• Beginning comments

  /*
   * Classname
   * Version information
   * Date
   * Copyright notice
   */
  

• package and import statements
• Class and interface declarations (which includes Javadoc comments for the class - see table entry #1).

Example:

/*
 * MyClass
 *
 * v1.0
 *
 * 2011-11-29
 * 
 * This file is copyrighted in an awesome way.
 */
package com.example.mypackage;

import com.example.otherpackage;

/**
 * Javadoc comments for the class.
 */
public class MyClass {
    ...
}