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

Merging collapsible if statements increases the code's readability.

Noncompliant Code Example

if (file != null) {
  if (file.isFile() || file.isDirectory()) {
    /* ... */
  }
}

Compliant Solution

if (file != null && isFileOrDirectory(file)) {
  /* ... */
}

private static boolean isFileOrDirectory(File file) {
  return file.isFile() || file.isDirectory();
}

InterruptedExceptions should never be ignored in the code, and simply logging the exception counts in this case as "ignoring". The throwing of the InterruptedException clears the interrupted state of the Thread, so if the exception is not handled properly the fact that the thread was interrupted will be lost. Instead, InterruptedExceptions should either be rethrown - immediately or after cleaning up the method's state - or the thread should be re-interrupted by calling Thread.interrupt() even if this is supposed to be a single-threaded application. Any other course of action risks delaying thread shutdown and loses the information that the thread was interrupted - probably without finishing its task.

Similarly, the ThreadDeath exception should also be propagated. According to its JavaDoc:

If ThreadDeath is caught by a method, it is important that it be rethrown so that the thread actually dies.

Noncompliant Code Example

public void run () {
  try {
    while (true) {
      // do stuff
    }
  }catch (InterruptedException e) { // Noncompliant; logging is not enough
    LOGGER.log(Level.WARN, "Interrupted!", e);
  }
}

Compliant Solution

public void run () {
  try {
    while (true) {
      // do stuff
    }
  }catch (InterruptedException e) {
    LOGGER.log(Level.WARN, "Interrupted!", e);
    // Restore interrupted state...
    Thread.currentThread().interrupt();
  }
}

See

• MITRE, CWE-391 - Unchecked Error Condition
• Dealing with InterruptedException

Checks that the block tag is followed by description.

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

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Checks the Javadoc of a method or constructor.

Violates parameters and type parametersfor which no param tags arepresent can be suppressed by defining propertyallowMissingParamTags.

Violates methods which return non-void but for which no return tag ispresent can be suppressed by defining propertyallowMissingReturnTag.

Violates exceptions which are declared to be thrown (by throws in the methodsignature or by throw new in the method body), but for which no throws tag ispresent by activation of property validateThrows.Note that throw new is not checked in the following places:

• Inside a try block (with catch). It is not possible to determine if the thrownexception can be caught by the catch block as there is no knowledge of theinheritance hierarchy, so the try block is ignored entirely. However, catchand finally blocks, as well as try blocks without catch, are still checked.
• Local classes, anonymous classes and lambda expressions. It is not known when thethrow statements inside such classes are going to be evaluated, so they are ignored.

ATTENTION: Checkstyle does not have information about hierarchy of exception typesso usage of base class is considered as separate exception type.As workaround you need to specify both types in javadoc (parent and exact type).

Javadoc is not required on a method that is tagged with the@Override annotation. However underJava 5 it is not possible to mark a method required for aninterface (this was corrected under Java 6). HenceCheckstyle supports using the convention of using a single{@inheritDoc} tag instead of all theother tags.

Note that only inheritable items will allow the{@inheritDoc} tag to be used in placeof comments. Static methods at all visibilities, private non-staticmethods and constructors are not inheritable.

For example, if the following method isimplementing a method required by an interface, then theJavadoc could be done as:

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

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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.

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

Checks that the block tag is followed by description.

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.

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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.

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 block tag is followed by description.

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 block tag is followed by description.

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.

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.

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CollapsibleIfStatements

Since: PMD 3.1

Priority: Medium

Categories: Style

Remediation Points: 50000

Sometimes two consecutive 'if' statements can be consolidated by separating their conditions with a boolean short-circuit operator.

Example:

void bar() {
 if (x) { // original implementation
 if (y) {
 // do stuff
 }
 }
}

void bar() {
 if (x && y) { // optimized implementation
 // do stuff
 }
}