[CASSANDRA-18089] The source code must obey the avoid star import checkstyle rule

• Type: Improvement
• Status: Resolved
• Priority: Normal
• Resolution: Duplicate
• Fix Version/s: 5.x
• Component/s: Build
• Epic Link: Code Style & Static Analysis
• Change Category: Code Clarity
• Complexity: Normal
• Platform: All

Test and Documentation Plan

The documentation must be updated once an agreement on this issue will be reached.

To test do the following:

$ git fetch upstream pull/2041/head:cassandra-18089
$ ant checkstyle
$ ant checkstyle-test

• Assignee: Maxim Muzafarov
• Reporter: Maxim Muzafarov

Authors

Maxim Muzafarov

• Created: 04/Dec/22 19:23
• Updated: 07/Mar/23 10:54
• Resolved: 22/Jan/23 21:25

Description

Cassandra has the code style rules regarding the classes import order: https://cassandra.apache.org/_/development/code_style.html

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 library version introduces name clashes. The advantage of explicitly listing all imports from a package is that you can tell at a glance which class you meant to use, which does reading and refactoring the source code that much easier.

The checkstyle that is already used for checking the source code has a such check and this check may be added to the config both for the production and test source code:
https://checkstyle.sourceforge.io/config_imports.html#AvoidStaticImport

Besides adding a new checkstyle rule it may be more convenient for those community members that are working with the code to reflect the same rule in the IDE's inspection profiles (if it's possible), thus using the 'optimize imports' will produce the same results on each execution as the checkstyle does.

Summary:

• add new checkstyle rule;
• update IDE's appropriate built-in inspections configurations;
• update development code-style web page and wiki;

Issue Links

• relates to: CASSANDRA-17925 Java source code should have sorted imports as defined in the codestyle
• links to: GitHub PullRequest: 2041