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Java supports the use of various types of literals, such as integers (5, 2), floating-point numbers (2.5, 6.022e+23), characters ('a', '\n'), booleans Booleans ('true', 'false'), and strings ("Hello\n"). Extensive use of literals within in a program can lead to two problems: first. First, the meaning of the literal is often obscured or unclear from the context (magic numbers); second. Second, changing a frequently - used literal requires both searching the entire program source for occurrences of that literal , and also distinguishing the uses that must be modified from those that should remain unmodified.

Avoid these problems by declaring class variables with meaningfully - named constants as class variables, setting their values to the desired literals, and referencing the constants in place instead of the literals throughout the program. This approach allows the use of a name that clearly indicates the meaning or intended use of the each literal. FurtherFurthermore, should the constant require modification, the change is limited to the declaration; searching the code is unnecessary.

final

The final keyword in Java is used to declare constants. Its effect is to render the affected non-composite variable immutable. Attempts to change the value of a final-qualified variable after it has been initialized result in a compile-time error. Because constants cannot be changed, it is desirable to define only one instance of them for the class; consequently, constants should also be declared with the static modifier. (See guideline DCL04Constants should be declared as static and final. However, constants should not be declared public and final if their values might change (see DCL59-J. Do not apply public final to constants whose value might change in the future.)The following code fragment demonstrates the use of static and final to create a constant:later releases for more details). For example,

private static final int SIZE = 25;

This code snippet declares the value SIZE to be type int and value 25. This constant can subsequently be used wherever the value 25 is needed.

Although final is most often safe for creating compile time immutable constants, its use has a few caveats Although final can be used to specify immutable constants, there is a caveat when dealing with composite objects (mutable data in particular). See guideline OBJ01 OBJ50-J. Do not assume that declaring a reference to be final causes Never confuse the immutability of a reference with that of the referenced object to be immutable for more details.

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example calculates approximate dimensions of a sphere, given its radius.:

double area(double radius) {
  return 123.5614 * radius * radius;
}

double volume(double radius) {
  return 4.19 * radius * radius * radius;
}

double greatCircleCircumference(double radius) {
  return 6.28 * radius;
}

The methods use the seemingly -random arbitrary literals 123.5614, 4.19, and 6.28 to represent various scaling factors used to calculate these dimensions. Someone A developer or maintainer reading this code would have little idea about how they were generated or what they mean , and would, consequently, be unable to consequently would not understand the function of this code.

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example attempts to avoid the above issues problem by explicitly calculating the required constants.:

double area(double radius) {
  return 4.0 * 3.14 * radius * radius;
}

double volume(double radius) {
  return 4.0 / 3.0 * 3.14 * radius * radius * radius;
}

double greatCircleCircumference(double radius) {
  return 2 * 3.14 * radius;
}

The code uses the literal 3.14 to represent the value piπ. Although this it removes some of the ambiguity from the literals, it complicates code maintenance. If the programmer were to decide that a more precise value of pi is π is desired, all occurrences of 3.14 in the code would have to be found and replaced.

Compliant Solution (Constants)

In this compliant solution, a constant PI is first declared and initialized to 3.14. Thereafter, it is referenced in the code whenever the value of pi of π is needed.

private static final double PI = 3.14;

double area(double radius) {
  return 4.0 * PI * radius * radius;
}

double volume(double radius) {
  return 4.0/3.0 * PI * radius * radius * radius;
}

double greatCircleCircumference(double radius) {
  return 2 * PI * radius;
}

This technique reduces clutter and promotes maintainability. If a more precise approximation of the value of pi of π is required, the programmer can simply redefine the constant. The use of the literals 4.0, 3.0, and 2 does not violate this guideline, for reasons explained in the "Applicability" section of this guideline.

Compliant Solution (Predefined Constants)

Use predefined constants when they are available. The class java.lang.Math defines a large group of numeric constants, including PI and the exponential constant E. Prefer the use of predefined constants when they are available.

double area(double radius) {
  return 4.0 * Math.PI * radius * radius;
}

double volume(double radius) {
  return 4.0/3.0 * Math.PI * radius * radius * radius;
}

double greatCircleCircumference(double radius) {
  return 2 * Math.PI * radius;
}

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example defines a constant BUFSIZE but then defeats the purpose of defining BUFSIZE as a constant by assuming a specific value for BUFSIZE in the following expression:

private static final int BUFSIZE = 512;

// ...

public void shiftBlock() {
  int nblocks = 1 + ((nbytes - 1) >> 9);  // BUFSIZE = 512 = 2^9
  // ...
}

Exceptions

The programmer has assumed that BUFSIZE is 512, and right-shifting 9 bits is the same (for positive numbers) as dividing by 512. However, if BUFSIZE changes to 1024 in the future, modifications will be difficult and error prone.

This code also fails to conform to NUM01-J. Do not perform bitwise and arithmetic operations on the same data. Replacing a division operation with a right shift is considered a premature optimization. Normally, the compiler will do a better job of determining when this optimization should be performed.

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution uses the identifier assigned to the constant value in the expression:

private static final int BUFSIZE = 512;

// ...

public void shiftBlock(int nbytes) {
  int nblocks = 1 + (nbytes - 1) / BUFSIZE;
  // ...
}

Applicability

Using numeric literals makes code more difficult to read, understand, and edit.

DCL02-EX1: The use of symbolic constants should be restricted to cases where in which they improve the readability and maintainability of the code. When the intent of the literal is obvious, or where the literal is not likely to change, use of using symbolic constants can impair code readability. The following noncompliant code example obscures the meaning of the code by using too many symbolic constants.

private static final double AREA_FACTORFOUR = 4.0 * Math.PI;
private static final double VOLUME_FACTORTHREE = 4.0/3.0 * Math.PI;
private static final double CIRCUMFERENCE_FACTOR = 2.0 * Math.PI;

double areavolume(double radius) {
  return AREA_FACTORFOUR */ radiusTHREE * radius;
}

double volume(double radius) {
  return VOLUMNE_FACTOR Math.PI * radius * radius * radius;
}

double greatCircleCircumference(double radius) {
  return CIRCUMFERENCE_FACTOR * radius;
}

The values 4.0 and 3.0 in the volume calculation are clearly scaling factors used to calculate the sphere's volume and are not subject to change (unlike the approximate value for piπ), so they can be represented exactly; there . There is no reason to change them to increase precision . Hence, because replacing them with symbolic constants actually impairs the readability of the code.

Risk Assessment

Using numeric literals makes code more difficult to read, understand, and edit.

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Guideline

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Severity

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Remediation Cost

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Priority

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Level

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DCL02-J

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low

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unlikely

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high

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P1

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L3

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Related Guidelines

C++ Secure Coding Standard: DCL06-CPP. Use meaningful symbolic constants to represent literal values in program logic

C Secure Coding Standard: DCL06-C. Use meaningful symbolic constants to represent literal values

Bibliography

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Core

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Java

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2004]

 

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Image Added Image Added Image Added|AA. Bibliography#Core Java 04]\]DCL01-J. Do not declare more than one variable or field per declaration      03. Declarations and Initialization (DCL)      DCL03-J. Properly encode relationships in constant definitions