Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 177.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 177.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 97.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 97.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Rule: curly

Enforces braces for if/for/do/while statements.

Rationale

if (foo === bar)
    foo++;
    bar++;

In the code above, the author almost certainly meant for both foo++ and bar++ to be executed only if foo === bar. However, they forgot braces and bar++ will be executed no matter what. This rule could prevent such a mistake.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

One of the following options may be provided:

• "as-needed" forbids any unnecessary curly braces.
• "ignore-same-line" skips checking braces for control-flow statements that are on one line and start on the same line as their control-flow keyword

Examples

"curly": true

"curly": true,ignore-same-line

"curly": true,as-needed

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "as-needed",
      "ignore-same-line"
    ]
  }
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: no-inferrable-types

Disallows explicit type declarations for variables or parameters initialized to a number, string, or boolean.

Rationale

Explicit types where they can be easily inferred by the compiler make code more verbose.

Notes

• TypeScript Only
• Has Fix

Config

Two arguments may be optionally provided:

• ignore-params allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for function params. This can be useful when combining with the typedef rule.
• ignore-properties allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for class properties.

Examples

"no-inferrable-types": true

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params,ignore-properties

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "ignore-params",
      "ignore-properties"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 2
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: no-inferrable-types

Disallows explicit type declarations for variables or parameters initialized to a number, string, or boolean.

Rationale

Explicit types where they can be easily inferred by the compiler make code more verbose.

Notes

• TypeScript Only
• Has Fix

Config

Two arguments may be optionally provided:

• ignore-params allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for function params. This can be useful when combining with the typedef rule.
• ignore-properties allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for class properties.

Examples

"no-inferrable-types": true

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params,ignore-properties

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "ignore-params",
      "ignore-properties"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 2
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: one-line

Requires the specified tokens to be on the same line as the expression preceding them.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Five arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-catch" checks that catch is on the same line as the closing brace for try.
• "check-finally" checks that finally is on the same line as the closing brace for catch.
• "check-else" checks that else is on the same line as the closing brace for if.
• "check-open-brace" checks that an open brace falls on the same line as its preceding expression.
• "check-whitespace" checks preceding whitespace for the specified tokens.

Examples

"one-line": true,check-catch,check-finally,check-else

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-catch",
      "check-finally",
      "check-else",
      "check-open-brace",
      "check-whitespace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 5
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: whitespace

Enforces whitespace style conventions.

Rationale

Helps maintain a readable, consistent style in your codebase.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Several arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-branch" checks branching statements (if/else/for/while) are followed by whitespace.
• "check-decl"checks that variable declarations have whitespace around the equals token.
• "check-operator" checks for whitespace around operator tokens.
• "check-module" checks for whitespace in import & export statements.
• "check-separator" checks for whitespace after separator tokens (,/;).
• "check-rest-spread" checks that there is no whitespace after rest/spread operator (...).
• "check-type" checks for whitespace before a variable type specification.
• "check-typecast" checks for whitespace between a typecast and its target.
• "check-type-operator" checks for whitespace between type operators | and &.
• "check-preblock" checks for whitespace before the opening brace of a block.
• "check-postbrace" checks for whitespace after an opening brace.

Examples

"whitespace": true,check-branch,check-operator,check-typecast

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-branch",
      "check-decl",
      "check-operator",
      "check-module",
      "check-separator",
      "check-rest-spread",
      "check-type",
      "check-typecast",
      "check-type-operator",
      "check-preblock",
      "check-postbrace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 11
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: no-inferrable-types

Disallows explicit type declarations for variables or parameters initialized to a number, string, or boolean.

Rationale

Explicit types where they can be easily inferred by the compiler make code more verbose.

Notes

• TypeScript Only
• Has Fix

Config

Two arguments may be optionally provided:

• ignore-params allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for function params. This can be useful when combining with the typedef rule.
• ignore-properties allows specifying an inferrable type annotation for class properties.

Examples

"no-inferrable-types": true

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params

"no-inferrable-types": true,ignore-params,ignore-properties

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "ignore-params",
      "ignore-properties"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 2
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: whitespace

Enforces whitespace style conventions.

Rationale

Helps maintain a readable, consistent style in your codebase.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Several arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-branch" checks branching statements (if/else/for/while) are followed by whitespace.
• "check-decl"checks that variable declarations have whitespace around the equals token.
• "check-operator" checks for whitespace around operator tokens.
• "check-module" checks for whitespace in import & export statements.
• "check-separator" checks for whitespace after separator tokens (,/;).
• "check-rest-spread" checks that there is no whitespace after rest/spread operator (...).
• "check-type" checks for whitespace before a variable type specification.
• "check-typecast" checks for whitespace between a typecast and its target.
• "check-type-operator" checks for whitespace between type operators | and &.
• "check-preblock" checks for whitespace before the opening brace of a block.
• "check-postbrace" checks for whitespace after an opening brace.

Examples

"whitespace": true,check-branch,check-operator,check-typecast

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-branch",
      "check-decl",
      "check-operator",
      "check-module",
      "check-separator",
      "check-rest-spread",
      "check-type",
      "check-typecast",
      "check-type-operator",
      "check-preblock",
      "check-postbrace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 11
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: whitespace

Enforces whitespace style conventions.

Rationale

Helps maintain a readable, consistent style in your codebase.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Several arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-branch" checks branching statements (if/else/for/while) are followed by whitespace.
• "check-decl"checks that variable declarations have whitespace around the equals token.
• "check-operator" checks for whitespace around operator tokens.
• "check-module" checks for whitespace in import & export statements.
• "check-separator" checks for whitespace after separator tokens (,/;).
• "check-rest-spread" checks that there is no whitespace after rest/spread operator (...).
• "check-type" checks for whitespace before a variable type specification.
• "check-typecast" checks for whitespace between a typecast and its target.
• "check-type-operator" checks for whitespace between type operators | and &.
• "check-preblock" checks for whitespace before the opening brace of a block.
• "check-postbrace" checks for whitespace after an opening brace.

Examples

"whitespace": true,check-branch,check-operator,check-typecast

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-branch",
      "check-decl",
      "check-operator",
      "check-module",
      "check-separator",
      "check-rest-spread",
      "check-type",
      "check-typecast",
      "check-type-operator",
      "check-preblock",
      "check-postbrace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 11
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: one-line

Requires the specified tokens to be on the same line as the expression preceding them.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Five arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-catch" checks that catch is on the same line as the closing brace for try.
• "check-finally" checks that finally is on the same line as the closing brace for catch.
• "check-else" checks that else is on the same line as the closing brace for if.
• "check-open-brace" checks that an open brace falls on the same line as its preceding expression.
• "check-whitespace" checks preceding whitespace for the specified tokens.

Examples

"one-line": true,check-catch,check-finally,check-else

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-catch",
      "check-finally",
      "check-else",
      "check-open-brace",
      "check-whitespace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 5
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: semicolon

Enforces consistent semicolon usage at the end of every statement.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

One of the following arguments must be provided:

• "always" enforces semicolons at the end of every statement.
• "never" disallows semicolons at the end of every statement except for when they are necessary.

The following arguments may be optionally provided:

• "ignore-interfaces" skips checking semicolons at the end of interface members.
• "ignore-bound-class-methods" skips checking semicolons at the end of bound class methods.
• "strict-bound-class-methods" disables any special handling of bound class methods and treats them as any other assignment. This option overrides "ignore-bound-class-methods".

Examples

"semicolon": true,always

"semicolon": true,never

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-interfaces

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-bound-class-methods

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "always",
        "never"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "ignore-interfaces"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "additionalItems": false
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: semicolon

Enforces consistent semicolon usage at the end of every statement.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

One of the following arguments must be provided:

• "always" enforces semicolons at the end of every statement.
• "never" disallows semicolons at the end of every statement except for when they are necessary.

The following arguments may be optionally provided:

• "ignore-interfaces" skips checking semicolons at the end of interface members.
• "ignore-bound-class-methods" skips checking semicolons at the end of bound class methods.
• "strict-bound-class-methods" disables any special handling of bound class methods and treats them as any other assignment. This option overrides "ignore-bound-class-methods".

Examples

"semicolon": true,always

"semicolon": true,never

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-interfaces

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-bound-class-methods

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "always",
        "never"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "ignore-interfaces"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "additionalItems": false
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: semicolon

Enforces consistent semicolon usage at the end of every statement.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

One of the following arguments must be provided:

• "always" enforces semicolons at the end of every statement.
• "never" disallows semicolons at the end of every statement except for when they are necessary.

The following arguments may be optionally provided:

• "ignore-interfaces" skips checking semicolons at the end of interface members.
• "ignore-bound-class-methods" skips checking semicolons at the end of bound class methods.
• "strict-bound-class-methods" disables any special handling of bound class methods and treats them as any other assignment. This option overrides "ignore-bound-class-methods".

Examples

"semicolon": true,always

"semicolon": true,never

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-interfaces

"semicolon": true,always,ignore-bound-class-methods

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": [
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "always",
        "never"
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "ignore-interfaces"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "additionalItems": false
}

For more information see this page.

Rule: whitespace

Enforces whitespace style conventions.

Rationale

Helps maintain a readable, consistent style in your codebase.

Notes

• Has Fix

Config

Several arguments may be optionally provided:

• "check-branch" checks branching statements (if/else/for/while) are followed by whitespace.
• "check-decl"checks that variable declarations have whitespace around the equals token.
• "check-operator" checks for whitespace around operator tokens.
• "check-module" checks for whitespace in import & export statements.
• "check-separator" checks for whitespace after separator tokens (,/;).
• "check-rest-spread" checks that there is no whitespace after rest/spread operator (...).
• "check-type" checks for whitespace before a variable type specification.
• "check-typecast" checks for whitespace between a typecast and its target.
• "check-type-operator" checks for whitespace between type operators | and &.
• "check-preblock" checks for whitespace before the opening brace of a block.
• "check-postbrace" checks for whitespace after an opening brace.

Examples

"whitespace": true,check-branch,check-operator,check-typecast

Schema

{
  "type": "array",
  "items": {
    "type": "string",
    "enum": [
      "check-branch",
      "check-decl",
      "check-operator",
      "check-module",
      "check-separator",
      "check-rest-spread",
      "check-type",
      "check-typecast",
      "check-type-operator",
      "check-preblock",
      "check-postbrace"
    ]
  },
  "minLength": 0,
  "maxLength": 11
}

For more information see this page.