wrstudios/frodata

Feature Envy occurs when a code fragment references another object more often than it references itself, or when several clients do the same series of manipulations on a particular type of object.

Feature Envy reduces the code's ability to communicate intent: code that "belongs" on one class but which is located in another can be hard to find, and may upset the "System of Names" in the host class.

Feature Envy also affects the design's flexibility: A code fragment that is in the wrong class creates couplings that may not be natural within the application's domain, and creates a loss of cohesion in the unwilling host class.

Feature Envy often arises because it must manipulate other objects (usually its arguments) to get them into a useful form, and one force preventing them (the arguments) doing this themselves is that the common knowledge lives outside the arguments, or the arguments are of too basic a type to justify extending that type. Therefore there must be something which 'knows' about the contents or purposes of the arguments. That thing would have to be more than just a basic type, because the basic types are either containers which don't know about their contents, or they are single objects which can't capture their relationship with their fellows of the same type. So, this thing with the extra knowledge should be reified into a class, and the utility method will most likely belong there.

Example

Running Reek on:

class Warehouse
  def sale_price(item)
    (item.price - item.rebate) * @vat
  end
end

would report:

Warehouse#total_price refers to item more than self (FeatureEnvy)

since this:

(item.price - item.rebate)

belongs to the Item class, not the Warehouse.

Classes should not assume that instance variables are set or present outside of the current class definition.

Good:

class Foo
  def initialize
    @bar = :foo
  end

  def foo?
    @bar == :foo
  end
end

Good as well:

class Foo
  def foo?
    bar == :foo
  end

  def bar
    @bar ||= :foo
  end
end

Bad:

class Foo
  def go_foo!
    @bar = :foo
  end

  def foo?
    @bar == :foo
  end
end

Example

Running Reek on:

class Dummy
  def test
    @ivar
  end
end

would report:

[1]:InstanceVariableAssumption: Dummy assumes too much for instance variable @ivar

Note that this example would trigger this smell warning as well:

class Parent
  def initialize(omg)
    @omg = omg
  end
end

class Child < Parent
  def foo
    @omg
  end
end

The way to address the smell warning is that you should create an attr_reader to use @omg in the subclass and not access @omg directly like this:

class Parent
  attr_reader :omg

  def initialize(omg)
    @omg = omg
  end
end

class Child < Parent
  def foo
    omg
  end
end

Directly accessing instance variables is considered a smell because it breaks encapsulation and makes it harder to reason about code.

If you don't want to expose those methods as public API just make them private like this:

class Parent
  def initialize(omg)
    @omg = omg
  end

  private
  attr_reader :omg
end

class Child < Parent
  def foo
    omg
  end
end

Current Support in Reek

An instance variable must:

• be set in the constructor
• or be accessed through a method with lazy initialization / memoization.

If not, Instance Variable Assumption will be reported.

A NilCheck is a type check. Failures of NilCheck violate the "tell, don't ask" principle.

Additionally, type checks often mask bigger problems in your source code like not using OOP and / or polymorphism when you should.

Example

Given

class Klass
  def nil_checker(argument)
    if argument.nil?
      puts "argument isn't nil!"
    end
  end
end

Reek would emit the following warning:

test.rb -- 1 warning:
  [3]:Klass#nil_checker performs a nil-check. (NilCheck)

A NilCheck is a type check. Failures of NilCheck violate the "tell, don't ask" principle.

Additionally, type checks often mask bigger problems in your source code like not using OOP and / or polymorphism when you should.

Example

Given

class Klass
  def nil_checker(argument)
    if argument.nil?
      puts "argument isn't nil!"
    end
  end
end

Reek would emit the following warning:

test.rb -- 1 warning:
  [3]:Klass#nil_checker performs a nil-check. (NilCheck)

A NilCheck is a type check. Failures of NilCheck violate the "tell, don't ask" principle.

Additionally, type checks often mask bigger problems in your source code like not using OOP and / or polymorphism when you should.

Example

Given

class Klass
  def nil_checker(argument)
    if argument.nil?
      puts "argument isn't nil!"
    end
  end
end

Reek would emit the following warning:

test.rb -- 1 warning:
  [3]:Klass#nil_checker performs a nil-check. (NilCheck)

A NilCheck is a type check. Failures of NilCheck violate the "tell, don't ask" principle.

Additionally, type checks often mask bigger problems in your source code like not using OOP and / or polymorphism when you should.

Example

Given

class Klass
  def nil_checker(argument)
    if argument.nil?
      puts "argument isn't nil!"
    end
  end
end

Reek would emit the following warning:

test.rb -- 1 warning:
  [3]:Klass#nil_checker performs a nil-check. (NilCheck)

This cop checks for uses of the keyword not instead of !.

Example:

# bad - parentheses are required because of op precedence
x = (not something)

# good
x = !something

This cop checks for braces around the last parameter in a method call if the last parameter is a hash. It supports braces, no_braces and context_dependent styles.

Example: EnforcedStyle: braces

# The `braces` style enforces braces around all method
# parameters that are hashes.

# bad
some_method(x, y, a: 1, b: 2)

# good
some_method(x, y, {a: 1, b: 2})

Example: EnforcedStyle: no_braces (default)

# The `no_braces` style checks that the last parameter doesn't
# have braces around it.

# bad
some_method(x, y, {a: 1, b: 2})

# good
some_method(x, y, a: 1, b: 2)

Example: EnforcedStyle: context_dependent

# The `context_dependent` style checks that the last parameter
# doesn't have braces around it, but requires braces if the
# second to last parameter is also a hash literal.

# bad
some_method(x, y, {a: 1, b: 2})
some_method(x, y, {a: 1, b: 2}, a: 1, b: 2)

# good
some_method(x, y, a: 1, b: 2)
some_method(x, y, {a: 1, b: 2}, {a: 1, b: 2})

This cops checks the indentation of the first key in a hash literal where the opening brace and the first key are on separate lines. The other keys' indentations are handled by the AlignHash cop.

By default, Hash literals that are arguments in a method call with parentheses, and where the opening curly brace of the hash is on the same line as the opening parenthesis of the method call, shall have their first key indented one step (two spaces) more than the position inside the opening parenthesis.

Other hash literals shall have their first key indented one step more than the start of the line where the opening curly brace is.

This default style is called 'specialinsideparentheses'. Alternative styles are 'consistent' and 'align_braces'. Here are examples:

Example: EnforcedStyle: specialinsideparentheses (default)

# The `special_inside_parentheses` style enforces that the first key
# in a hash literal where the opening brace and the first key are on
# separate lines is indented one step (two spaces) more than the
# position inside the opening parentheses.

# bad
hash = {
  key: :value
}
and_in_a_method_call({
  no: :difference
                     })

# good
special_inside_parentheses
hash = {
  key: :value
}
but_in_a_method_call({
                       its_like: :this
                     })

Example: EnforcedStyle: consistent

# The `consistent` style enforces that the first key in a hash
# literal where the opening brace and the first key are on
# seprate lines is indented the same as a hash literal which is not
# defined inside a method call.

# bad
hash = {
  key: :value
}
but_in_a_method_call({
                       its_like: :this
                      })

# good
hash = {
  key: :value
}
and_in_a_method_call({
  no: :difference
})

Example: EnforcedStyle: align_braces

# The `align_brackets` style enforces that the opening and closing
# braces are indented to the same position.

# bad
and_now_for_something = {
                          completely: :different
}

# good
and_now_for_something = {
                          completely: :different
                        }

This cop makes sure that predicates are named properly.

Example:

# bad
def is_even?(value)
end

# good
def even?(value)
end

# bad
def has_value?
end

# good
def value?
end

This cops checks the indentation of the first key in a hash literal where the opening brace and the first key are on separate lines. The other keys' indentations are handled by the AlignHash cop.

By default, Hash literals that are arguments in a method call with parentheses, and where the opening curly brace of the hash is on the same line as the opening parenthesis of the method call, shall have their first key indented one step (two spaces) more than the position inside the opening parenthesis.

Other hash literals shall have their first key indented one step more than the start of the line where the opening curly brace is.

This default style is called 'specialinsideparentheses'. Alternative styles are 'consistent' and 'align_braces'. Here are examples:

Example: EnforcedStyle: specialinsideparentheses (default)

# The `special_inside_parentheses` style enforces that the first key
# in a hash literal where the opening brace and the first key are on
# separate lines is indented one step (two spaces) more than the
# position inside the opening parentheses.

# bad
hash = {
  key: :value
}
and_in_a_method_call({
  no: :difference
                     })

# good
special_inside_parentheses
hash = {
  key: :value
}
but_in_a_method_call({
                       its_like: :this
                     })

Example: EnforcedStyle: consistent

# The `consistent` style enforces that the first key in a hash
# literal where the opening brace and the first key are on
# seprate lines is indented the same as a hash literal which is not
# defined inside a method call.

# bad
hash = {
  key: :value
}
but_in_a_method_call({
                       its_like: :this
                      })

# good
hash = {
  key: :value
}
and_in_a_method_call({
  no: :difference
})

Example: EnforcedStyle: align_braces

# The `align_brackets` style enforces that the opening and closing
# braces are indented to the same position.

# bad
and_now_for_something = {
                          completely: :different
}

# good
and_now_for_something = {
                          completely: :different
                        }

Use a guard clause instead of wrapping the code inside a conditional expression

Example:

# bad
def test
  if something
    work
  end
end

# good
def test
  return unless something
  work
end

# also good
def test
  work if something
end

# bad
if something
  raise 'exception'
else
  ok
end

# good
raise 'exception' if something
ok

This cop makes sure that predicates are named properly.

Example:

# bad
def is_even?(value)
end

# good
def even?(value)
end

# bad
def has_value?
end

# good
def value?
end