---
title: PMD Release Notes
permalink: pmd_release_notes.html
keywords: changelog, release notes
---

## {{ site.pmd.date }} - {{ site.pmd.version }}

The PMD team is pleased to announce PMD {{ site.pmd.version }}.

This is a {{ site.pmd.release_type }} release.

{% tocmaker is_release_notes_processor %}

### New and noteworthy

#### Javascript module now requires at least Java 8

The latest version of [Rhino](https://github.com/mozilla/rhino), the implementation of JavaScript we use
for parsing JavaScript code, requires at least Java 8. Therefore we decided to upgrade the pmd-javascript
module to Java 8 as well. This means that from now on, a Java 8 or later runtime is required in order
to analyze JavaScript code. Note that PMD core still only requires Java 7.

#### New rules

This release ships with 3 new Java rules.

*   {% rule "java/bestpractices/JUnit5TestShouldBePackagePrivate" %}
    enforces the convention that JUnit 5 tests should have minimal visibility.
    You can try out this rule like so:
```xml
    <rule ref="category/java/bestpractices.xml/JUnit5TestShouldBePackagePrivate" />
```

*   {% rule "java/design/CognitiveComplexity" %} uses the cognitive complexity
    metric to find overly complex code. This metric improves on the similar cyclomatic complexity 
    in several ways, for instance, it incentivizes using clearly readable shorthands and idioms.
    See the rule documentation for more details. You can try out this rule like so:
```xml
    <rule ref="category/java/design.xml/CognitiveComplexity" />
```

*   {% rule "java/design/MutableStaticState" %} finds non-private static fields
    that are not final. These fields break encapsulation since these fields can be modified from anywhere
    within the program. You can try out this rule like so:
```xml
    <rule ref="category/java/design.xml/MutableStaticState" />
```

#### Modified rules

*   The Java rule {% rule "java/errorprone/CompareObjectsWithEquals" %} has now a new property
    `typesThatCompareByReference`. With that property, you can configure types, that should be whitelisted
    for comparison by reference. By default, `java.lang.Enum` and `java.lang.Class` are allowed, but
    you could add custom types here.
    Additionally comparisons against constants are allowed now. This makes the rule less noisy when two constants
    are compared. Constants are identified by looking for an all-caps identifier.

#### Deprecated rules

*   The java rule {% rule "java/codestyle/DefaultPackage" %} has been deprecated in favor of
    {% rule "java/codestyle/CommentDefaultAccessModifier" %}.

    The rule "DefaultPackage" assumes that any usage of package-access is accidental,
    and by doing so, prohibits using a really fundamental and useful feature of the language.

    To satisfy the rule, you have to make the member public even if it doesn't need to, or make it protected,
    which muddies your intent even more if you don't intend the class to be extended, and may be at odds with
    other rules like {% rule "java/codestyle/AvoidProtectedFieldInFinalClass" %}.

    The rule {% rule "java/codestyle/CommentDefaultAccessModifier" %} should be used instead.
    It flags the same thing, but has an escape hatch.

*   The Java rule {% rule "java/errorprone/CloneThrowsCloneNotSupportedException" %} has been deprecated without
    replacement.

    The rule has no real value as `CloneNotSupportedException` is a
    checked exception and therefore you need to deal with it while implementing the `clone()` method. You either
    need to declare the exception or catch it. If you catch it, then subclasses can't throw it themselves explicitly.
    However, `Object.clone()` will still throw this exception if the `Cloneable` interface is not implemented.

    Note, this rule has also been removed from the Quickstart Ruleset (`rulesets/java/quickstart.xml`).

### Fixed Issues

*   apex
    *   [#3183](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3183): \[apex] ApexUnitTestMethodShouldHaveIsTestAnnotation false positive with helper method
    *   [#3243](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3243): \[apex] Correct findBoundary when traversing AST
*   core
    *   [#2639](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2639): \[core] PMD CLI output file is not created if directory or directories in path don't exist
    *   [#3196](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3196): \[core] Deprecate ThreadSafeReportListener
*   doc
    *   [#3230](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3230): \[doc] Remove "Edit me" button for language index pages
*   dist
    *   [#2466](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2466): \[dist] Distribution archive doesn't include all batch scripts
*   java
    *   [#3269](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3269): \[java] Fix NPE in MethodTypeResolution
*   java-bestpractices
    *   [#1175](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1175): \[java] UnusedPrivateMethod FP with Junit 5 @MethodSource
    *   [#2219](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2219): \[java] Document Reasons to Avoid Reassigning Parameters
    *   [#2737](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2737): \[java] Fix misleading rule message on rule SwitchStmtsShouldHaveDefault with non-exhaustive enum switch
    *   [#3236](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3236): \[java] LiteralsFirstInComparisons should consider constant fields (cont'd)
    *   [#3239](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3239): \[java] PMD could enforce non-public methods for Junit5 / Jupiter test methods
    *   [#3254](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3254): \[java] AvoidReassigningParameters reports violations on wrong line numbers
*   java-codestyle
    *   [#2655](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2655): \[java] UnnecessaryImport false positive for on-demand imports
    *   [#3206](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3206): \[java] Deprecate rule DefaultPackage
    *   [#3262](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3262): \[java] FieldDeclarationsShouldBeAtStartOfClass: false negative with anon classes
    *   [#3265](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3265): \[java] MethodArgumentCouldBeFinal: false negatives with interfaces and inner classes
    *   [#3266](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3266): \[java] LocalVariableCouldBeFinal: false negatives with interfaces, anon classes
    *   [#3274](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3274): \[java] OnlyOneReturn: false negative with anonymous class
    *   [#3275](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3275): \[java] UnnecessaryLocalBeforeReturn: false negatives with lambda and anon class
*   java-design
    *   [#2780](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2780): \[java] DataClass example from documentation results in false-negative
    *   [#2987](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2987): \[java] New Rule: Public and protected static fields must be final
    *   [#2329](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2329): \[java] Cognitive complexity rule for Java
*   java-errorprone
    *   [#3110](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3110): \[java] Enhance CompareObjectsWithEquals with list of exceptions
    *   [#3112](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3112): \[java] Deprecate rule CloneThrowsCloneNotSupportedException
    *   [#3205](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3205): \[java] Make CompareObjectWithEquals allow comparing against constants
    *   [#3248](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/3248): \[java] Documentation is wrong for SingletonClassReturningNewInstance rule
    *   [#3249](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3249): \[java] AvoidFieldNameMatchingTypeName: False negative with interfaces
    *   [#3268](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3268): \[java] ConstructorCallsOverridableMethod: IndexOutOfBoundsException with annotations
*   java-performance
    *   [#1438](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/1438): \[java] InsufficientStringBufferDeclaration false positive for initial calculated StringBuilder size
*   javascript
    *   [#699](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/699): \[javascript] Update Rhino library to 1.7.13
    *   [#2081](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/issues/2081): \[javascript] Failing with OutOfMemoryError parsing a Javascript file

### API Changes

#### Deprecated API

*   {% jdoc !!core::PMD#doPMD(net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDConfiguration) %} is deprecated.
    Use {% jdoc !!core::PMD#runPMD(net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDConfiguration) %} instead.
*   {% jdoc !!core::PMD#run(java.lang.String[]) %} is deprecated.
    Use {% jdoc !!core::PMD#runPMD(java.lang.String...) %} instead.
*   {% jdoc core::ThreadSafeReportListener %} and the methods to use them in {% jdoc core::Report %}
    ({% jdoc core::Report#addListener(net.sourceforge.pmd.ThreadSafeReportListener) %},
    {% jdoc core::Report#getListeners() %}, {% jdoc core::Report#addListeners(java.util.List) %})
    are deprecated. This functionality will be replaced by another TBD mechanism in PMD 7.

### External Contributions
*   [#3272](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3272): \[apex] correction for ApexUnitTestMethodShouldHaveIsTestAnnotation false positives - [William Brockhus](https://github.com/YodaDaCoda)
*   [#3246](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3246): \[java] New Rule: MutableStaticState - [Vsevolod Zholobov](https://github.com/vszholobov)
*   [#3247](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3247): \[java] New rule: JUnit5TestShouldBePackagePrivate - [Arnaud Jeansen](https://github.com/ajeans)
*   [#3293](https://github.com/pmd/pmd/pull/3293): \[java] Cognitive Complexity Metric - [Denis Borovikov](https://github.com/borovikovd)
*   [pmd.github.io#12](https://github.com/pmd/pmd.github.io/pull/12): Update quickstart.html - [Igor Lyadov](https://github.com/devigo)

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