Do not use the assignment operator in the outermost expression of an if or switch statement or a looping statement (while, do, or for) because it typically indicates programmer error and can result in unexpected behavior.
Noncompliant Code Example
In this noncompliant code example, an assignment expression is the outermost expression in an if statement.
public void exampleFunction(boolean a, boolean b){
if (a = b) {
/* ... */
}
}
Although the intent of the code could be to assign b to a and test the value of the result, it is frequently a case of the programmer mistakenly using the assignment operator = instead of the equals operator ==.
Compliant Solution
When the assignment of b to a is unintended, this conditional block is now executed when a is equal to b.
public void exampleFunction(boolean a, boolean b){
if (a == b) {
/* ... */
}
}
When the assignment is intended, the following compliant solution may be used because the programmer's intent is clearer:
public void exampleFunction(boolean a, boolean b){
if ((a = b) == true) {
/* ... */
}
}
But it might be preferable to express this same logic as an assignment followed by a conditional:
public void exampleFunction(boolean a, boolean b){
a = b;
if (a) {
/* ... */
}
}
Risk Assessment
Errors of omission can result in unintended program flow.
Recommendation | Severity | Likelihood | Remediation Cost | Priority | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EXP51-JG | low | likely | medium | P6 | L2 |
Related Guidelines
EXP19-CPP. Do not perform assignments in conditional expressions | |
"Likely Incorrect Expression [KOA]" | |
CWE ID 480, "Use of Incorrect Operator" |
Bibliography
Section 2.7.2, "Errors of omission and addition" |
EXP03-J. Do not use the equality operators when comparing values of boxed primitives 02. Expressions (EXP) EXP05-J. Do not write more than once to the same variable within an expression