com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding

Class StringLiteralEqualityCheck

java.lang.Object

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AutomaticBean

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractViolationReporter

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractCheck

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding.StringLiteralEqualityCheck

All Implemented Interfaces:

Configurable, Contextualizable

public class StringLiteralEqualityCheck
extends AbstractCheck

Checks that string literals are not used with == or !=. Since == will compare the object references, not the actual value of the strings, String.equals() should be used. More information can be found in this article.

Rationale: Novice Java programmers often use code like:

 if (x == "something")
 

when they mean

 if ("something".equals(x))
 

To configure the check:

 <module name="StringLiteralEquality"/>
 

Examples of violations:

 String status = "pending";

 if (status == "done") {} // violation

 while (status != "done") {} // violation

 boolean flag = (status == "done"); // violation

 boolean flag = (status.equals("done")); // OK

 String name = "X";

 if (name == getName()) {}
 // OK, limitation that check cannot tell runtime type returned from method call
 

Parent is com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.TreeWalker

Violation Message Keys:

• string.literal.equality

Since:

3.2

Nested Class Summary

Nested classes/interfaces inherited from class com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AutomaticBean

AutomaticBean.OutputStreamOptions

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field and Description
static String	MSG_KEY A key is pointing to the warning message text in "messages.properties" file.

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor and Description
StringLiteralEqualityCheck()

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
int[]	getAcceptableTokens() The configurable token set.
int[]	getDefaultTokens() Returns the default token a check is interested in.
int[]	getRequiredTokens() The tokens that this check must be registered for.
void	visitToken(DetailAST ast) Called to process a token.

Methods inherited from class com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractCheck

beginTree, clearMessages, destroy, finishTree, getFileContents, getLine, getLines, getMessages, getTabWidth, getTokenNames, init, isCommentNodesRequired, leaveToken, log, log, log, setFileContents, setTabWidth, setTokens

Methods inherited from class com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractViolationReporter

finishLocalSetup, getCustomMessages, getId, getMessageBundle, getSeverity, getSeverityLevel, setId, setSeverity

Methods inherited from class com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AutomaticBean

configure, contextualize, getConfiguration, setupChild

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

MSG_KEY

public static final String MSG_KEY

A key is pointing to the warning message text in "messages.properties" file.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

StringLiteralEqualityCheck

public StringLiteralEqualityCheck()

Method Detail

getDefaultTokens

public int[] getDefaultTokens()

Description copied from class: AbstractCheck

Returns the default token a check is interested in. Only used if the configuration for a check does not define the tokens.

Specified by:

getDefaultTokens in class AbstractCheck

Returns:

the default tokens

See Also:

TokenTypes

getAcceptableTokens

public int[] getAcceptableTokens()

Description copied from class: AbstractCheck

The configurable token set. Used to protect Checks against malicious users who specify an unacceptable token set in the configuration file. The default implementation returns the check's default tokens.

Specified by:

getAcceptableTokens in class AbstractCheck

Returns:

the token set this check is designed for.

See Also:

TokenTypes

getRequiredTokens

public int[] getRequiredTokens()

Description copied from class: AbstractCheck

The tokens that this check must be registered for.

Specified by:

getRequiredTokens in class AbstractCheck

Returns:

the token set this must be registered for.

See Also:

TokenTypes

visitToken

public void visitToken(DetailAST ast)

Description copied from class: AbstractCheck

Called to process a token.

Overrides:

visitToken in class AbstractCheck

Parameters:

ast - the token to process