+ + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + Edit me + + + +

We’re excited to bring you the next major version of PMD! Here are the major features and changes we’re working on. +To give us feedback or to suggest a new feature, drop us a line on Gitter!

+ +

New Features

+ +

TODO

+ +

Java grammar changes

+ + + +

New API support guidelines

+ +

What’s new

+ +

Until now, all released public members and types were implicitly considered part +of PMD’s public API, including inheritance-specific members (protected members, abstract methods). +We have maintained those APIs with the goal to preserve full binary compatibility between minor releases, +only breaking those APIs infrequently, for major releases.

+ +

In order to allow PMD to move forward at a faster pace, this implicit contract will +be invalidated with PMD 7.0.0. We now introduce more fine-grained distinctions between +the type of compatibility support we guarantee for our libraries, and ways to make +them explicit to clients of PMD.

+ +

.internal packages and @InternalApi annotation

+ +

Internal API is meant for use only by the main PMD codebase. Internal types and methods +may be modified in any way, or even removed, at any time.

+ +

Any API in a package that contains an .internal segment is considered internal. +The @InternalApi annotation will be used for APIs that have to live outside of +these packages, e.g. methods of a public type that shouldn’t be used outside of PMD (again, +these can be removed anytime).

+ +

@ReservedSubclassing

+ +

Types marked with the @ReservedSubclassing annotation are only meant to be subclassed +by classes within PMD. As such, we may add new abstract methods, or remove protected methods, +at any time. All published public members remain supported. The annotation is not inherited, which +means a reserved interface doesn’t prevent its implementors to be subclassed.

+ +

@Experimental

+ +

APIs marked with the @Experimental annotation at the class or method level are subject to change. +They can be modified in any way, or even removed, at any time. You should not use or rely + on them in any production code. They are purely to allow broad testing and feedback.

+ +

@Deprecated

+ +

APIs marked with the @Deprecated annotation at the class or method level will remain supported +until the next major release but it is recommended to stop using them.

+ +

The transition

+ +

All currently supported APIs will remain so until 7.0.0. All APIs that are to be moved to +.internal packages or hidden will be tagged @InternalApi before that major release, and +the breaking API changes will be performed in 7.0.0.

+ +

Planned API removals

+ +

List of currently deprecated APIs

+ + + +

6.8.0

+ +
    +
  • +

    A couple of methods and fields in net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.AbstractPropertySource have been +deprecated, as they are replaced by already existing functionality or expose internal implementation +details: propertyDescriptors, propertyValuesByDescriptor, +copyPropertyDescriptors(), copyPropertyValues(), ignoredProperties(), usesDefaultValues(), +useDefaultValueFor().

    +
    • +
  • +

    Some methods in net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.PropertySource have been deprecated as well: +usesDefaultValues(), useDefaultValueFor(), ignoredProperties().

    +
    • +
  • +

    The class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.AbstractDelegateRule has been deprecated and will +be removed with PMD 7.0.0. It is internally only in use by RuleReference.

    +
    • +
  • +

    The default constructor of net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.RuleReference has been deprecated +and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. RuleReferences should only be created by providing a Rule and +a RuleSetReference. Furthermore the following methods are deprecated: setRuleReference(), +hasOverriddenProperty(), usesDefaultValues(), useDefaultValueFor().

    +
    • +
+ +

6.7.0

+ +
    +
  • +

    All classes in the package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.dfa.report have been deprecated and will be removed +with PMD 7.0.0. This includes the class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.dfa.report.ReportTree. The reason is, +that this class is very specific to Java and not suitable for other languages. It has only been used for +YAHTMLRenderer, which has been rewritten to work without these classes.

    +
    • +
  • +

    The nodes RUNSIGNEDSHIFT and RSIGNEDSHIFT are deprecated and will be removed from the AST with PMD 7.0.0. +These represented the operator of ShiftExpression in two cases out of three, but they’re not needed and +make ShiftExpression inconsistent. The operator of a ShiftExpression is now accessible through +ShiftExpression#getOperator.

    +
    • +
+ +

6.5.0

+ +
    +
  • +

    The utility class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.CommentUtil has been deprecated and will be removed +with PMD 7.0.0. Its methods have been intended to parse javadoc tags. A more useful solution will be added +around the AST node FormalComment, which contains as children JavadocElement nodes, which in +turn provide access to the JavadocTag.

    + +

    All comment AST nodes (FormalComment, MultiLineComment, SingleLineComment) have a new method +getFilteredComment() which provide access to the comment text without the leading /* markers.

    +
    • +
  • +

    The method AbstractCommentRule.tagsIndicesIn() has been deprecated and will be removed with +PMD 7.0.0. It is not very useful, since it doesn’t extract the information +in a useful way. You would still need check, which tags have been found, and with which +data they might be accompanied.

    +
    • +
+ +

6.4.0

+ +
    +
  • The following classes in package net.sourceforge.pmd.benchmark have been deprecated: Benchmark, Benchmarker, +BenchmarkReport, BenchmarkResult, RuleDuration, StringBuilderCR and TextReport. Their API is not supported anymore +and is disconnected from the internals of PMD. Use the newer API based around TimeTracker instead, which can be found +in the same package.
    • +
  • The class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.xpath.TypeOfFunction has been deprecated. Use the newer TypeIsFunction in the same package.
    • +
  • The typeof methods in net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.xpath.JavaFunctions have been deprecated. +Use the newer typeIs method in the same class instead..
    • +
  • The methods isA, isEither and isNeither of net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.typeresolution.TypeHelper. +Use the new isExactlyAny and isExactlyNone methods in the same class instead.
    • +
+ +

6.2.0

+ +
    +
  • +

    The static method PMDParameters.transformParametersIntoConfiguration(PMDParameters) is now deprecated, +for removal in 7.0.0. The new instance method PMDParameters.toConfiguration() replaces it.

    +
    • +
  • +

    The method ASTConstructorDeclaration.getParameters() has been deprecated in favor of the new method +getFormalParameters(). This method is available for both ASTConstructorDeclaration and +ASTMethodDeclaration.

    +
    • +
+ +

6.1.0

+ +
    +
  • The method getXPathNodeName is added to the Node interface, which removes the +use of the toString of a node to get its XPath element name (see #569). +
      +
    • The default implementation provided in AbstractNode, will +be removed with 7.0.0
      • +
    • With 7.0.0, the Node.toString method will not necessarily provide its XPath node +name anymore.
      • +
    +
    • +
  • +

    The interface net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.Renderer has been deprecated. A new interface +net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.renderer.CPDRenderer has been introduced to replace it. The main +difference is that the new interface is meant to render directly to a java.io.Writer +rather than to a String. This allows to greatly reduce the memory footprint of CPD, as on +large projects, with many duplications, it was causing OutOfMemoryErrors (see #795).

    + +

    net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.FileReporter has also been deprecated as part of this change, as it’s no longer needed.

    +
    • +
+ +

6.0.1

+ +
    +
  • The constant net.sourceforge.pmd.PMD.VERSION has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. +Please use net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDVersion.VERSION instead.
    • +
+ +

List of currently deprecated rules

+ + + + + +
+ +
+ + + +