PrivateBin/PrivateBin

NPathComplexity

Since: 0.1

The NPath complexity of a method is the number of acyclic execution paths through that method. A threshold of 200 is generally considered the point where measures should be taken to reduce complexity.

Example

class Foo {
    function bar() {
        // lots of complicated code
    }
}

Source https://phpmd.org/rules/codesize.html#npathcomplexity

CyclomaticComplexity

Since: 0.1

Complexity is determined by the number of decision points in a method plus one for the method entry. The decision points are 'if', 'while', 'for', and 'case labels'. Generally, 1-4 is low complexity, 5-7 indicates moderate complexity, 8-10 is high complexity, and 11+ is very high complexity.

Example

// Cyclomatic Complexity = 11
class Foo {
1   public function example() {
2       if ($a == $b) {
3           if ($a1 == $b1) {
                fiddle();
4           } elseif ($a2 == $b2) {
                fiddle();
            } else {
                fiddle();
            }
5       } elseif ($c == $d) {
6           while ($c == $d) {
                fiddle();
            }
7        } elseif ($e == $f) {
8           for ($n = 0; $n < $h; $n++) {
                fiddle();
            }
        } else {
            switch ($z) {
9               case 1:
                    fiddle();
                    break;
10              case 2:
                    fiddle();
                    break;
11              case 3:
                    fiddle();
                    break;
                default:
                    fiddle();
                    break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Source https://phpmd.org/rules/codesize.html#cyclomaticcomplexity

Having too many return statements in a function increases the function's essential complexity because the flow of execution is broken each time a return statement is encountered. This makes it harder to read and understand the logic of the function.

Noncompliant Code Example

With the default threshold of 3:

function myFunction(){ // Noncompliant as there are 4 return statements
  if (condition1) {
    return true;
  } else {
    if (condition2) {
      return false;
    } else {
      return true;
    }
  }
  return false;
}

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how hard the control flow of a function is to understand. Functions with high Cognitive Complexity will be difficult to maintain.

See

• Cognitive Complexity

IfStatementAssignment

Since: 2.7.0

Assignments in if clauses and the like are considered a code smell. Assignments in PHP return the right operand as their result. In many cases, this is an expected behavior, but can lead to many difficult to spot bugs, especially when the right operand could result in zero, null or an empty string and the like.

Example

class Foo
{
    public function bar($flag)
    {
        if ($foo = 'bar') { // possible typo
            // ...
        }
        if ($baz = 0) { // always false
            // ...
        }
    }
}

Source http://phpmd.org/rules/cleancode.html#ifstatementassignment

If you throw a general exception type, such as ErrorException, RuntimeException, or Exception in a library or framework, it forces consumers to catch all exceptions, including unknown exceptions that they do not know how to handle.

Instead, either throw a subtype that already exists in the Standard PHP Library, or create your own type that derives from Exception.

Noncompliant Code Example

throw new Exception();  // Noncompliant

Compliant Solution

throw new InvalidArgumentException();
// or
throw new UnexpectedValueException();

See

• MITRE, CWE-397 - Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception
• CERT, ERR07-J. - Do not throw RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable

Duplicated string literals make the process of refactoring error-prone, since you must be sure to update all occurrences.

On the other hand, constants can be referenced from many places, but only need to be updated in a single place.

Noncompliant Code Example

With the default threshold of 3:

function run() {
  prepare('action1');                              // Non-Compliant - 'action1' is duplicated 3 times
  execute('action1');
  release('action1');
}

Compliant Solution

ACTION_1 = 'action1';

function run() {
  prepare(ACTION_1);
  execute(ACTION_1);
  release(ACTION_1);
}

Exceptions

To prevent generating some false-positives, literals having less than 5 characters are excluded.

If you throw a general exception type, such as ErrorException, RuntimeException, or Exception in a library or framework, it forces consumers to catch all exceptions, including unknown exceptions that they do not know how to handle.

Instead, either throw a subtype that already exists in the Standard PHP Library, or create your own type that derives from Exception.

Noncompliant Code Example

throw new Exception();  // Noncompliant

Compliant Solution

throw new InvalidArgumentException();
// or
throw new UnexpectedValueException();

See

• MITRE, CWE-397 - Declaration of Throws for Generic Exception
• CERT, ERR07-J. - Do not throw RuntimeException, Exception, or Throwable

Duplicated string literals make the process of refactoring error-prone, since you must be sure to update all occurrences.

On the other hand, constants can be referenced from many places, but only need to be updated in a single place.

Noncompliant Code Example

With the default threshold of 3:

function run() {
  prepare('action1');                              // Non-Compliant - 'action1' is duplicated 3 times
  execute('action1');
  release('action1');
}

Compliant Solution

ACTION_1 = 'action1';

function run() {
  prepare(ACTION_1);
  execute(ACTION_1);
  release(ACTION_1);
}

Exceptions

To prevent generating some false-positives, literals having less than 5 characters are excluded.

ShortVariable

Since: 0.2

Detects when a field, local, or parameter has a very short name.

Example

class Something {
    private $q = 15; // VIOLATION - Field
    public static function main( array $as ) { // VIOLATION - Formal
        $r = 20 + $this->q; // VIOLATION - Local
        for (int $i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) { // Not a Violation (inside FOR)
            $r += $this->q;
        }
    }
}

Source https://phpmd.org/rules/naming.html#shortvariable