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Is there a Java Logging Library from Google?

I have been using the Google Guava library and find it much more usable than Apache Commons for argument validation (i.e. checking preconditions, invariant object state, conveniently throwing the right Exception type on null, empty String, inlining null checks with assignments, Exception message formatting and specialised typing of nullable types). I have not looked at other features of the library but this was enough for me to switch.

Now the very natural question:

I am doing my logging using Apache Commons Logging, as I was doing for argument validation. Is there a similar "this goes to 11" of the framework from Google that I could switch to, with compound benefits? I don't mind either Log4j or Commons but Guava is so much better than Commons in the aspects I have studied...

I see Android has its logging framework, which I like, does Google offer one for basic Java too?

EDIT: Re-reading my question I realise it may somehow hint to a dogmatic preference for Google code, which I do not have, and an underlying assumption that anything that comes out of Google will be by definition "perfect". I do not hold these "positive preconceptions" at all, what I meant but failed to convey in writing, is that there may be some synergies in adopting a single provider for the two layers. There may be something that intelligently logs, for example, a Guava Optional object or associated object, saving time in constructing specific String.format()s. I was looking for a Google library to leverage these potential synergies not out of a priori preference. I did, in fact, first compare Guava to my old Commons-based way of argument checking before deciding to switch. All things considered, I do appreciate very much the code Google releases for free and I think I have learnt a lot from it and will continue to do so, given its very high quality. I never allowed this to become a cult, though.

References:

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  • I'm curious why you ask about a framework by Google specifically. Yes, they have written some nice frameworks, but that doesn't mean that they are the only ones who can do it. What I think you might want is "a logging framework that goes to 11". Commented Sep 17, 2012 at 10:25
  • I agree that Guava is much better than anything else, but they don't do everything. Especially they avoid duplicating work and you'll see that logback is pretty perfect, too. Surely better than log4j (by the same author) and probably also better than all the other. Commented Sep 17, 2012 at 10:57
  • Flogger is Google's Java logging framework. Commented Feb 15, 2022 at 1:40

2 Answers 2

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Commons Logging is best avoided. See http://articles.qos.ch/thinkAgain.html for a thorough analysis. Yes, it's very old (and yes, author has a vested interest) but it all applies. The linked 'Commons Logging was my fault' illustrates - there is really not much love for this library - anywhere.

Apparently, Google's preferred solution is java.util.logging. You will see this if you do Java programming on Google App Engine.

The best standard is slf4j over logback. There is no reason to avoid it I think. You will quite possibly be using slf4j already - if not directly then indirectly via other libraries on your classpath - it is the de facto modern standard.

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Switching answers as you provided a bit more background...
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Not that I know of. I recommend using slf4j.

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6 Comments

Actually, the logging framework for slf4j is logback, slf4j is "just" the frontend API for it (any pretty much any other library).
@Joachim Sauer : Justify the preference/recommendation, please? Specifically, what would I gain from replacing Apache Commons Logging?
@Robottinosino: one argument for slf4j/logback is that it's developed by the developer of log4j (the previously most widely used logging framework in the Java world). logback has a set of pretty nice features, but mostly has feature parity with everything else out there. slf4j can be used as a very thin wrapper about any logging framework (for most frameworks its overhead is pretty much 0). This alone makes slf4j very desireable: you can switch the actual logging framework without touching your code.
@JoachimSauer Changing logging framework you will do... probably never? (If you're delivering an app. If you're writing a third-party-reusable library, it's very bad manners to force your preference on the users). I do agree with your conclusion though, just use slf4j.
@Iain: true enough, but slf4j is also the frontend for logback, which is a pretty nice logging framework to begin with ;-)
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