PMD

PMD is a static source code analyzer that can be highly configured to detect issues on a wide range, from poor coding, missing documentation to severe security or performance flaws.

PMD can also be added to IntelliJ as graphical plugin.

Configuration

Add the following plugin to your pom.xml:

<!-- PMD static code analysis -->
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-pmd-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.13.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <rulesets>
        <!-- full list: bestpractices, codestyle, design, documentation, errorprone, multithreading, performance-->
        <ruleset>/category/java/bestpractices.xml</ruleset>
        </rulesets>
        <!-- failOnViolation is actually true by default, but can be disabled -->
        <failOnViolation>true</failOnViolation>
        <!-- printFailingErrors is pretty useful -->
        <printFailingErrors>true</printFailingErrors>
        <linkXRef>false</linkXRef>
    </configuration>
    <executions>
        <execution>
        <goals>
            <goal>check</goal>
        </goals>
        <!-- Enforce the pmd:check goal is auto-executed during package phase-->
        <phase>package</phase>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

Invokation:

• The plugin is configured to be automcatically executed on every mvn clean package.
• To run the code analysis without the full package phase, type: mvn clean pmd:check.

Tweaks

Above default configuration only tests for codestyle violations. To get the full range of feedback, enable the full rulesets list:

    <ruleset>/category/java/bestpractices.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/codestyle.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/design.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/documentation.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/errorprone.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/multithreading.xml</ruleset>
    <ruleset>/category/java/performance.xml</ruleset>