Page History

Reuse of identifier names in subscopes leads to shadowing, that is, the names obscuration or shadowing. Reused identifiers in the current scope mask can render those defined elsewhere . This creates ambiguity especially when the originals need to be used and also leaves the code hard to maintain. The problem gets aggravated inaccessible. Although the Java Language Specification (JLS) [JLS 2013] clearly resolves any syntactic ambiguity arising from obscuring or shadowing, such ambiguity burdens code maintainers and auditors, especially when code requires access to both the original named entity and the inaccessible one. The problem is exacerbated when the reused name is defined in a different package.

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant example implements a class that reuses the name of class java.util.Vector. The intent of this class is to introduce a different condition for the isEmpty method for native legacy code interfacing. A future programmer may not know about this extension and may incorrectly use the Vector idiom to use the original Vector class. This behavior is clearly undesirable.

According to §6.4.2, "Obscuring," of the JLS [JLS 2013],

A simple name may occur in contexts where it may potentially be interpreted as the name of a variable, a type, or a package. In these situations, the rules of §6.5 specify that a variable will be chosen in preference to a type, and that a type will be chosen in preference to a package.

This implies that a variable can obscure a type or a package, and a type can obscure a package name. Shadowing, on the other hand, refers to one variable rendering another variable inaccessible in a containing scope. One type can also shadow another type.

No identifier should obscure or shadow another identifier in a containing scope. For example, a local variable should not reuse the name of a class field or method or a class name or package name. Similarly, an inner class name should not reuse the name of an outer class or package.

Both overriding and shadowing differ from hiding, in which an accessible member (typically nonprivate) that should have been inherited by a subclass is replaced by a locally declared subclass member that assumes the same name but has a different, incompatible method signature.

Noncompliant Code Example (Field Shadowing)

This noncompliant code example reuses the name of the val instance field in the scope of an instance method.Well defined import statements do resolve these issues but may get confusing when the reused name is defined in a different package. Moreover, a common (and misleading) tendency is to include the import statements after writing the code (many IDEs allow automatic inclusion as per requirements). As a result, such instances can go undetected.

class VectorMyVector {
  private int val = 1;
  publicprivate booleanvoid isEmptydoLogic() {
    int if(val;
 == 1)   //compares... with 1 instead of 0
      return true;
    else
      return false;
  }
  //other functionality is same as java.util.Vector
}

import java.util.Vector;

public class VectorUser {
  public static void main(String[] args}
}

The resulting behavior can be classified as shadowing; the method variable renders the instance variable inaccessible within the scope of the method. For example, assigning to val from within the method does not affect the value of the instance variable, although assigning to this.val from within the method does.

Compliant Solution (Field Shadowing)

This compliant solution eliminates shadowing by changing the name of the variable defined in the method scope from val to newValue:

class MyVector {
  private int val = 1;
  private void doLogic() {
    Vector v = new Vector()int newValue;
    if(v.isEmpty())
      System.out.println("Vector is empty");//...   
  }
}

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution declares the class Vector with a different name:

class MyVector {
  //other code
}

As a tenet, do not:

• Reuse the name of a superclass
• Reuse the name of an interface
• Reuse the name of a field defined in a superclass
• Reuse the name of a field that appears in the same method (in different scope)

Noncompliant Code Example

Noncompliant Code Example (Variable Shadowing)

This example is noncompliant because the variable i defined in the scope of the second for loop block shadows the definition of the instance variable i defined in the MyVector class:This noncompliant specimen reuses the name of the val instance field in the scope of an instance method.

class VectorMyVector {
  private int vali = 10;
  private void doLogic() {
    for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {/* ... */}
    for (int i val= 0;
 i < 20; i++) {//* ... */}  
  }
}

Compliant Solution

...

(Variable Shadowing)

In this compliant solution, the loop counter i is This solution ameliorates the issue by using a different name for the variable defined in the method scope. scope of each for loop block:

class MyVector {
  private void doLogic() {
    for (int newValue;
  //...   
}

Risk Assessment

Reusing names leads to code that is harder to read and maintain and may result in security weaknesses.

Automated Detection

TODO

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

Other Languages

This rule appears in the C Secure Coding Standard as DCL01-C. Do not reuse variable names in subscopes.

This rule appears in the C++ Secure Coding Standard as DCL01-CPP. Do not reuse variable names in subscopes.

References

\[[Bloch 08|AA. Java References#Bloch 08]\] Puzzle 67: All Strung Out
\[[FindBugs 08|AA. Java References#FindBugs 08]\]:
Nm: Class names shouldn't shadow simple name of implemented interface  
Nm: Class names shouldn't shadow simple name of superclass
MF: Class defines field that masks a superclass field
MF: Method defines a variable that obscures a field

 i = 0; i < 10; i++) {/* ... */}
    for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {/* ... */} 
  }
}

Applicability

Name reuse makes code more difficult to read and maintain, which can result in security weaknesses. An automated tool can easily detect reuse of identifiers in containing scopes.

Automated Detection

Bibliography

...

Image Added Image Added Image AddedSCP02-J. Use nested classes carefully      03. Scope (SCP)      04. Integers (INT)