001/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 002// checkstyle: Checks Java source code and other text files for adherence to a set of rules. 003// Copyright (C) 2001-2026 the original author or authors. 004// 005// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or 006// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public 007// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either 008// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. 009// 010// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, 011// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of 012// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU 013// Lesser General Public License for more details. 014// 015// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public 016// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software 017// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA 018/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// 019 020package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding; 021 022import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.StatelessCheck; 023import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.AbstractCheck; 024import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.DetailAST; 025import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.TokenTypes; 026 027/** 028 * <div> 029 * Checks that the clone method is not overridden from the 030 * Object class. 031 * </div> 032 * 033 * <p> 034 * This check is almost exactly the same as the {@code NoFinalizerCheck}. 035 * </p> 036 * 037 * <p> 038 * See 039 * <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/docs/api/java.base/java/lang/Object.html#clone()"> 040 * Object.clone()</a> 041 * </p> 042 * 043 * <p> 044 * Rationale: The clone method relies on strange, hard to follow rules that 045 * are difficult to get right and do not work in all situations. In some cases, 046 * either a copy constructor or a static factory method can be used instead of 047 * the clone method to return copies of an object. For more information on rules 048 * for the clone method and its issues, see Effective Java: 049 * Programming Language Guide First Edition by Joshua Bloch pages 45-52. 050 * </p> 051 * 052 * <p> 053 * Below are some rules/reasons why the clone method should be avoided. 054 * </p> 055 * <ul> 056 * <li> 057 * Classes supporting the clone method should implement the Cloneable 058 * interface but the Cloneable interface does not include the clone method. 059 * As a result, it doesn't enforce the method override. 060 * </li> 061 * <li> 062 * The Cloneable interface forces the Object's clone method to work 063 * correctly. Without implementing it, the Object's clone method will 064 * throw a CloneNotSupportedException. 065 * </li> 066 * <li> 067 * Non-final classes must return the object returned from a call to 068 * super.clone(). 069 * </li> 070 * <li> 071 * Final classes can use a constructor to create a clone which is different 072 * from non-final classes. 073 * </li> 074 * <li> 075 * If a super class implements the clone method incorrectly all subclasses 076 * calling super.clone() are doomed to failure. 077 * </li> 078 * <li> 079 * If a class has references to mutable objects then those object 080 * references must be replaced with copies in the clone method after calling super.clone(). 081 * </li> 082 * <li> 083 * The clone method does not work correctly with final mutable object 084 * references because final references cannot be reassigned. 085 * </li> 086 * <li> 087 * If a super class overrides the clone method then all subclasses must 088 * provide a correct clone implementation. 089 * </li> 090 * </ul> 091 * 092 * <p>Two alternatives to the clone method, in some cases, is a copy constructor 093 * or a static factory method to return copies of an object. Both of these 094 * approaches are simpler and do not conflict with final fields. They do not 095 * force the calling client to handle a CloneNotSupportedException. They also 096 * are typed therefore no casting is necessary. Finally, they are more 097 * flexible since they can take interface types rather than concrete classes. 098 * </p> 099 * 100 * <p>Sometimes a copy constructor or static factory is not an acceptable 101 * alternative to the clone method. The example below highlights the 102 * limitation of a copy constructor (or static factory). Assume Square is a subclass for Shape. 103 * </p> 104 * {@snippet : 105 * Shape s1 = new Square(); 106 * System.out.println(s1 instanceof Square); //true 107 * } 108 * 109 * <p> 110 * ...assume at this point the code knows nothing of s1 being a Square 111 * that's the beauty of polymorphism but the code wants to copy 112 * the Square which is declared as a Shape, its super type... 113 * </p> 114 * {@snippet : 115 * Shape s2 = new Shape(s1); //using the copy constructor 116 * System.out.println(s2 instanceof Square); //false 117 * } 118 * 119 * <p> 120 * The working solution (without knowing about all subclasses and doing many 121 * casts) is to do the following (assuming correct clone implementation). 122 * </p> 123 * {@snippet : 124 * Shape s2 = s1.clone(); 125 * System.out.println(s2 instanceof Square); //true 126 * } 127 * 128 * <p> 129 * Just keep in mind if this type of polymorphic cloning is required 130 * then a properly implemented clone method may be the best choice. 131 * </p> 132 * 133 * <p>Much of this information was taken from Effective Java: 134 * Programming Language Guide First Edition by Joshua Bloch 135 * pages 45-52. Give Bloch credit for writing an excellent book. 136 * </p> 137 * 138 * @since 5.0 139 */ 140@StatelessCheck 141public class NoCloneCheck extends AbstractCheck { 142 143 /** 144 * A key is pointing to the warning message text in "messages.properties" file. 145 */ 146 public static final String MSG_KEY = "avoid.clone.method"; 147 148 /** 149 * Creates a new {@code NoCloneCheck} instance. 150 */ 151 public NoCloneCheck() { 152 // no code by default 153 } 154 155 @Override 156 public int[] getDefaultTokens() { 157 return getRequiredTokens(); 158 } 159 160 @Override 161 public int[] getAcceptableTokens() { 162 return getRequiredTokens(); 163 } 164 165 @Override 166 public int[] getRequiredTokens() { 167 return new int[] {TokenTypes.METHOD_DEF}; 168 } 169 170 @Override 171 public void visitToken(DetailAST ast) { 172 final DetailAST mid = ast.findFirstToken(TokenTypes.IDENT); 173 final String name = mid.getText(); 174 175 if ("clone".equals(name)) { 176 final DetailAST params = ast.findFirstToken(TokenTypes.PARAMETERS); 177 final boolean hasEmptyParamList = 178 params.findFirstToken(TokenTypes.PARAMETER_DEF) == null; 179 180 if (hasEmptyParamList) { 181 log(ast, MSG_KEY); 182 } 183 } 184 } 185 186}