The purpose of Java packages is to give structure to your project. A structure helps to mentally break down a project into smaller parts,
simplifying readers' understanding of how components are connected and how they interact.
By convention, the source files' directory structure should replicate the project’s package structure. This is for the following reasons:
- The mapping between the package name and the location of the source file of a class is straightforward. That is, the path to the source file is
easier to find for a given fully qualified class name.
- If two different structures are applied to the same project - one to the packages but another to the source file directories - this confuses
developers while not providing any benefit.
- The directory structure of the class files generated by the compiler will match the package structure, no matter the source file’s directory.
It would not make sense to have one directory structure for the generated class files but a different one for the associated source files.
Similarly, a source directory should not have the character . in its name, as this would make it impossible to match the directory to
the package structure.
