AvoidStarImport

Description

Checks that there are no import statements that use the * notation.

Rationale: Importing all classes from a package or static members from a class leads to tight coupling between packages or classes and might lead to problems when a new version of a library introduces name clashes.

Properties

name description type default value
excludes packages where star imports are allowed. Note that this property is not recursive, subpackages of excluded packages are not automatically excluded. list of strings empty list
allowClassImports whether to allow starred class imports like import java.util.*;. Boolean false
allowStaticMemberImports whether to allow starred static member imports like import static org.junit.Assert.*; Boolean false

Example

An example how to configure the check so that star imports from packages java.io and java.net as well as static members from class from java.lang.Math are allowed: 

<module name="AvoidStarImport">
   <property name="excludes" value="java.io,java.net,java.lang.Math"/>
   <property name="allowClassImports" value="false"/>
   <property name="allowStaticMemberImports" value="false"/>
</module>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

AvoidStaticImport

Description

Checks that there are no static import statements.

Rationale: Importing static members can lead to naming conflicts between class' members. It may lead to poor code readability since it may no longer be clear what class a member resides in (without looking at the import statement).

Properties

name description type default value
excludes Allows for certain classes via a star notation to be excluded such as java.lang.Math.* or specific static members to be excluded like java.lang.System.out for a variable or java.lang.Math.random for a method.
If you exclude a starred import on a class this automatically excludes each member individually.
For example: Excluding java.lang.Math.*. will allow the import of each static member in the Math class individually like java.lang.Math.PI. 		list of strings empty list

Example

An example of how to configure the check so that the java.lang.System.out member and all members from java.lang.Math are allowed: 

         <module name="AvoidStaticImport">
           <property name="excludes" value="java.lang.System.out,java.lang.Math.*"/>
         </module>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

IllegalImport

Description

Checks for imports from a set of illegal packages. By default, the check rejects all sun.* packages since programs that contain direct calls to the sun.* packages are "not guaranteed to work on all Java-compatible platforms". To reject other packages, set property illegalPkgs to a list of the illegal packages.

Properties

name description type default value
illegalPkgs packages to reject list of strings sun

Examples

To configure the check: 

<module name="IllegalImport"/>

To configure the check so that it rejects packages java.io.* and java.sql.*: 

<module name="IllegalImport">
    <property name="illegalPkgs" value="java.io, java.sql"/>
</module>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

RedundantImport

Description

Checks for redundant import statements. An import statement is considered redundant if:

  • It is a duplicate of another import. This is, when a class is imported more than once.
  • The class imported is from the java.lang package, e.g. importing java.lang.String.
  • The class imported is from the same package.

Example

To configure the check: 

<module name="RedundantImport"/>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

UnusedImports

Description

Checks for unused import statements. Checkstyle uses a simple but very reliable algorithm to report on unused import statements. An import statement is considered unused if:

  • It is not referenced in the file. The algorithm does not support wild-card imports like import java.io.*;. Most IDE's provide very sophisticated checks for imports that handle wild-card imports.
  • It is a duplicate of another import. This is when a class is imported more than once.
  • The class imported is from the java.lang package. For example importing java.lang.String.
  • The class imported is from the same package.
  • Optionally: it is referenced in Javadoc comments. This check is off by default, as it is considered bad practice to introduce a compile time dependency for documentation purposes only. As an example, the import java.util.Date would be considered referenced with the Javadoc comment {@link Date}. The alternative to avoid introducing a compile time dependency would be to write the Javadoc comment as {@link java.util.Date}.

The main limitation of this check is handling the case where an imported type has the same name as a declaration, such as a member variable.

For example, in the following case the import java.awt.Component will not be flagged as unused: 

import java.awt.Component;
class FooBar {
    private Object Component; // a bad practice in my opinion
    ...
}

Properties

name description type default value
processJavadoc whether to process Javadoc boolean false

Example

To configure the check: 

<module name="UnusedImports"/>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

ImportOrder

Description

Checks the ordering/grouping of imports. Features are:

  • groups imports: ensures that groups of imports come in a specific order (e.g., java. comes first, javax. comes second, then everything else)
  • adds a separation between groups : ensures that a blank line sit between each group
  • sorts imports inside each group: ensures that imports within each group are in lexicographic order
  • sorts according to case: ensures that the comparison between imports is case sensitive
  • groups static imports: ensures the relative order between regular imports and static imports (see import orders)

Properties

name description type default value
option policy on the relative order between regular imports and static imports import order under
groups list of imports groups (every group identified either by a common prefix string, or by a regular expression enclosed in forward slashes (e.g. /regexp/) list of strings empty list
ordered whether imports within group should be sorted Boolean true
separated whether imports groups should be separated by, at least, one blank line Boolean false
caseSensitive whether string comparison should be case sensitive or not Boolean true

Example

To configure the check so that it requires that:

  • "java" and "javax" packages together first, then "org" and then all other imports
  • imports will be sorted in the groups
  • groups are separated by, at least, one blank line
  • static imports are above each local groups
<module name="ImportOrder">
    <property name="groups" value="/^javax?\./,org"/>
    <property name="ordered" value="true"/>
    <property name="separated" value="true"/>
    <property name="option" value="above"/>
</module>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

ImportControl

Description

Controls what can be imported in each package. Useful for ensuring that application layering rules are not violated, especially on large projects.

The DTD for a import control XML document is at http://www.puppycrawl.com/dtds/import_control_1_1.dtd. It contains documentation on each of the elements and attributes.

The check validates a XML document when it loads the document. To validate against the above DTD, include the following document type declaration in your XML document: 

<!DOCTYPE import-control PUBLIC
    "-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Import Control 1.1//EN"
    "http://www.puppycrawl.com/dtds/import_control_1_1.dtd">

Properties

name description type default value
file name of the file containing the import control configuration. string null
url URL of the file containing the import control configuration. string null

Example

To configure the check using a import control file called "import-control.xml", then have the following: 

<module name="ImportControl">
    <property name="file" value="import-control.xml"/>
</module>

In the example below, all classes beginning with an I in the package java.awt are allowed. In the package java.io only the classes File and InputStream are allowed. 

<import-control pkg="com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle">
    <allow class="java\.awt\.I.*" regex="true"/>
    <allow class="java\.io\.(File|InputStream)" local-only="true"
        regex="true"/>
</import-control>

For an example import control file, look at the file called import-control.xml which is part of the Checkstyle distribution.

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker

CustomImportOrder

Description

Checks that the groups of import declarations appear in the order specified by the user. If there is an import but its group is not specified in the configuration such an import should be placed at the end of the import list.

RuleDescription

The rule consists of:

1) STATIC group. This group sets the ordering of static imports.

2) SAME_PACKAGE(n) group. This group sets the ordering of the same package imports. n' - a number of the first package domains. For example: 

 package java.util.concurrent;

 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.AbstractExecutorService;
 import java.util.concurrent.*;

And we have such configuration: SAME_PACKAGE (3). Same package imports are java.util.*, java.util.concurrent.*, java.util.concurrent.AbstractExecutorService, java.util.List and java.util.StringTokenizer

3) THIRD_PARTY_PACKAGE group. This group sets ordering of third party imports. Third party imports are all imports except STATIC, SAME_PACKAGE(n), STANDARD_JAVA_PACKAGE and SPECIAL_IMPORTS.

4) STANDARD_JAVA_PACKAGE group. This group sets ordering of standard java (java|javax) imports.

5) SPECIAL_IMPORTS group. This group may contains some imports that have particular meaning for the user.

Note

Use the separator '###' between rules.

Properties

name description type default value
customImportOrderRules List of order declaration customizing by user. string null
standardPackageRegExp RegExp for STANDARD_JAVA_PACKAGE group imports. regular expression java|javax
thirdPartyPackageRegExp RegExp for THIRDPARTY_PACKAGE group imports. regular expression .*
specialImportsRegExp RegExp for SPECIAL_IMPORTS group imports. regular expression ^$
samePackageMatchingDepth Number of first domains for SAME_PACKAGE group. Integer 2
separateLineBetweenGroups Force empty line separator between import groups. boolean true
sortImportsInGroupAlphabetically Force grouping alphabetically. boolean false

Examples

To set RegExps for THIRD_PARTY_PACKAGE and STANDARD_JAVA_PACKAGE groups use thirdPartyPackageRegExp and standardPackageRegExp options. 

<module name="CustomImportOrder">
    <property name="customImportOrderRules"
    value="STATIC###SAME_PACKAGE(3)###THIRD_PARTY_PACKAGE###STANDARD_JAVA_PACKAGE"/>
    <property name="thirdPartyPackageRegExp" value="com|org"/>
    <property name="standardPackageRegExp" value="java|javax"/>
</module>

Also, this check can be configured to force empty line separator between import groups. For example. 

<module name="CustomImportOrder">
    <property name="separateLineBetweenGroups" value="true"/>
</module>

By the option it is possible to force alphabetically sorting. 

<module name="CustomImportOrder">
    <property name="sortImportsInGroupAlphabetically" value="true"/>
</module>

To force checking imports sequence such as: 

package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.imports;

import com.google.common.annotations.GwtCompatible;
import com.google.common.annotations.Beta;
import com.google.common.annotations.VisibleForTesting;

import org.abego.treelayout.Configuration;

import static sun.tools.util.ModifierFilter.ALL_ACCESS;

import com.google.common.annotations.GwtCompatible; // violation here - should be in the
                                                    // THIRD_PARTY_PACKAGE group
import android.*;

configure as follows: 

<module name="CustomImportOrder">
    <property name="customImportOrderRules"
    value="SAME_PACKAGE(3)###THIRD_PARTY_PACKAGE###STATIC###SPECIAL_IMPORTS"/>
    <property name="specialImportsRegExp" value="android.*"/>
</module>

Package

com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.imports

Parent Module

TreeWalker