SEI CERT Oracle Coding Standard for Java

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Never use deprecated fields, methods, or classes in new code. The Java SE 6 documentation provides a complete list of deprecated APIs [[API 2006]]. Java provides a @deprecated annotation to indicate the deprecation of specific fields, methods, and classes. For instance, many methods of java.util.Date, such as Date.getYear(), have been explicitly deprecated. The rule THI05-J. Do not use Thread.stop() to terminate threads describes issues that can result from using the deprecated Thread.stop() method.

Obsolete fields, methods, and classes should not be used. Java provides no annotation to indicate obsolescence, but several objects are documented as obsolete. For instance, the java.util.Dictionary class is marked as obsolete, and new code should use java.util.Map<K,V> instead [[API 2006]].

Finally, several classes and methods impose particular limitations on their use. For instance, all of the subclasses of the abstract class java.text.Format are thread-unsafe. These classes must be avoided in multithreaded code. For more information about thread-safety, see rule TSM04-J. Document thread-safety and use annotations where applicable.

Obsolete Methods and Classes

The following methods and classes must not be used:

Class or Method

Replacement

Rule

java.lang.Character.isJavaLetter()

java.lang.Character.isJavaIdentifierStart()

 

java.lang.Character.isJavaLetterOrDigit()

java.lang.Character.isJavaIdentifierPart()

 

java.lang.Character.isSpace()

java.lang.Character.isWhitespace()

 

java.lang.reflect.Class.newInstance()

java.lang.reflect.Constructor.newInstance()

ERR06-J. Do not let code throw undeclared checked exceptions

java.util.Date (many methods)

java.util.Calendar

 

java.util.Dictionary

java.util.Map<K,V>

 

java.util.Properties.save()

java.util.Properties.store()

 

java.lang.Thread.stop()

java.lang.Thread.interrupt()

THI05-J. Do not use Thread.stop() to terminate threads

java.lang.ThreadGroup (many methods)

inherently unsafe

THI01-J. Do not invoke ThreadGroup methods

The JVM Profiler Interface (JVMPI) and JVM Debug Interface (JVMDI) are also deprecated and have been replaced by the JVM Tool Interface (JVMTI), see rule ENV05-J. Do not deploy an application that can be remotely monitored for more information.

Risk Assessment

Using deprecated or obsolete classes or methods in program code can lead to erroneous behavior.

Rule

Severity

Likelihood

Remediation Cost

Priority

Level

MET02-J

high

likely

medium

P18

L1

Automated Detection

Detecting uses of deprecated methods is straightforward. Obsolete methods and thread-unsafe methods have no automatic means of detection.

Related Guidelines

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[ISO/IEC TR 24772:2010

http://www.aitcnet.org/isai/]

"Deprecated Language Features [MEM]"

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MITRE CWE

CWE ID 589, "Call to Non-ubiquitous API"

Bibliography

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[[API 2006

AA. Bibliography#API 06]]

[Deprecated API

http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/deprecated-list.html], [Dictionary

http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/util/Dictionary.html]

]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:structured-macro>

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[[SDN 2008

AA. Bibliography#SDN 08]]

Bug database, [Bug ID 4264153

http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4264153]

]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:structured-macro>

MET01-J. Never use assertions to validate method parameters      05. Methods (MET)      

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