encryptorcode/iam-oauth

Calling toString() or clone() on an object should always return a string or an object. Returning null instead contravenes the method's implicit contract.

Noncompliant Code Example

public String toString () {
  if (this.collection.isEmpty()) {
    return null; // Noncompliant
  } else {
    // ...

Compliant Solution

public String toString () {
  if (this.collection.isEmpty()) {
    return "";
  } else {
    // ...

See

• MITRE CWE-476 - NULL Pointer Dereference
• CERT, EXP01-J. - Do not use a null in a case where an object is required

Many consider clone and Cloneable broken in Java, largely because the rules for overriding clone are tricky and difficult to get right, according to Joshua Bloch:

Object's clone method is very tricky. It's based on field copies, and it's "extra-linguistic." It creates an object without calling a constructor. There are no guarantees that it preserves the invariants established by the constructors. There have been lots of bugs over the years, both in and outside Sun, stemming from the fact that if you just call super.clone repeatedly up the chain until you have cloned an object, you have a shallow copy of the object. The clone generally shares state with the object being cloned. If that state is mutable, you don't have two independent objects. If you modify one, the other changes as well. And all of a sudden, you get random behavior.

A copy constructor or copy factory should be used instead.

This rule raises an issue when clone is overridden, whether or not Cloneable is implemented.

Noncompliant Code Example

public class MyClass {
  // ...

  public Object clone() { // Noncompliant
    //...
  }
}

Compliant Solution

public class MyClass {
  // ...

  MyClass (MyClass source) {
    //...
  }
}

See

• Copy Constructor versus Cloning

See Also

• {rule:java:S2157} - "Cloneables" should implement "clone"
• {rule:java:S1182} - Classes that override "clone" should be "Cloneable" and call "super.clone()"

Checks that the groups of import declarations appear in the order specifiedby the user. If there is an import but its group is not specified in theconfiguration such an import should be placed at the end of the import list.

This documentation is written and maintained by the Checkstyle community and is covered under the same license as the Checkstyle project.

Checks that the groups of import declarations appear in the order specifiedby the user. If there is an import but its group is not specified in theconfiguration such an import should be placed at the end of the import list.

This documentation is written and maintained by the Checkstyle community and is covered under the same license as the Checkstyle project.

Checks that the groups of import declarations appear in the order specifiedby the user. If there is an import but its group is not specified in theconfiguration such an import should be placed at the end of the import list.

This documentation is written and maintained by the Checkstyle community and is covered under the same license as the Checkstyle project.