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ExtractAndMoveMethodCandidate: adding some questionable exception handling
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60\newcommand{\typeref}[1]{\footnote{\type{#1}}}
61\newcommand{\typewithref}[2]{\type{#2}\typeref{#1.#2}}
62\newcommand{\method}[1]{\type{#1}}
63\newcommand{\methodref}[2]{\footnote{\type{#1}\method{\##2()}}}
64\newcommand{\methodwithref}[2]{\method{#2}\footnote{\type{#1}\method{\##2()}}}
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67\newcommand{\name}[1]{#1}
68\newcommand{\tit}[1]{\emph{#1}}
69\newcommand{\refa}[1]{\emph{#1}}
70\newcommand{\pattern}[1]{\emph{#1}}
71\newcommand{\metr}[1]{\emph{#1}}
72\newcommand{\ExtractMethod}{\refa{Extract Method}\xspace}
73\newcommand{\MoveMethod}{\refa{Move Method}\xspace}
74\newcommand{\ExtractAndMoveMethod}{\refa{Extract and Move Method}\xspace}
b5c7bb1b 75
1c521a77 76\newcommand{\m}[1]{$#1$}
46f52f52 77
7125ceac 78\newcommand\todoin[2][]{\todo[inline, caption={#2}, #1]{
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79\begin{minipage}{\textwidth-4pt}#2\end{minipage}}}
80
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81\title{Automated Composition of Refactorings}
82\subtitle{Composing the Extract and Move Method refactorings in Eclipse}
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83\author{Erlend Kristiansen}
84
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85\makeglossaries
86\newglossaryentry{profiling}
87{
88 name=profiling,
89 description={is to run a computer program through a profiler/with a profiler
90 attached}
91}
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92\newglossaryentry{profiler}
93{
94 name=profiler,
95 description={A profiler is a program for analyzing performance within an
96 application. It is used to analyze memory consumption, processing time and
60065669 97frequency of procedure calls and such}
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98}
99\newglossaryentry{xUnit}
100{
101 name={xUnit framework},
102 description={An xUnit framework is a framework for writing unit tests for a
103 computer program. It follows the patterns known from the JUnit framework for
104 Java\citing{fowlerXunit}
105 },
106 plural={xUnit frameworks}
107}
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108\newglossaryentry{softwareObfuscation}
109{
110 name={software obfuscation},
111 description={makes source code harder to read and analyze, while preserving
112 its semantics}
113}
114\newglossaryentry{extractClass}
115{
116 name=\refa{Extract Class},
117 description={The \refa{Extract Class} refactoring works by creating a class,
118for then to move members from another class to that class and access them from
119the old class via a reference to the new class}
120}
121\newglossaryentry{designPattern}
122{
123 name={design pattern},
124 description={A design pattern is a named abstraction, that is meant to solve a
125 general design problem. It describes the key aspects of a common problem and
126identifies its participators and how they collaborate},
127 plural={design patterns}
128}
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129\newglossaryentry{enclosingClass}
130{
131 name={enclosing class},
132 description={An enclosing class is the class that surrounds any specific piece
133 of code that is written in the inner scope of this class},
134}
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135\newglossaryentry{mementoPattern}
136{
137 name={memento pattern},
138 description={The memento pattern is a software design pattern that is used to
139 capture an object's internal state so that it can be restored to this state
140 later\citing{designPatterns}},
141}
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142%\newglossaryentry{extractMethod}
143%{
144% name=\refa{Extract Method},
145% description={The \refa{Extract Method} refactoring is used to extract a
146%fragment of code from its context and into a new method. A call to the new
147%method is inlined where the fragment was before. It is used to break code into
148%logical units, with names that explain their purpose}
149%}
150%\newglossaryentry{moveMethod}
151%{
152% name=\refa{Move Method},
153% description={The \refa{Move Method} refactoring is used to move a method from
154% one class to another. This is useful if the method is using more features of
155% another class than of the class which it is currently defined. Then all calls
156% to this method must be updated, or the method must be copied, with the old
157%method delegating to the new method}
158%}
f5fb40e4 159
7c28933b 160\bibliography{bibliography/master-thesis-erlenkr-bibliography}
9ff90080 161
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162% UML comment in TikZ:
163% ref: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/103688/folded-paper-shape-tikz
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164\makeatletter
165\pgfdeclareshape{umlcomment}{
166 \inheritsavedanchors[from=rectangle] % this is nearly a rectangle
167 \inheritanchorborder[from=rectangle]
168 \inheritanchor[from=rectangle]{center}
169 \inheritanchor[from=rectangle]{north}
170 \inheritanchor[from=rectangle]{south}
171 \inheritanchor[from=rectangle]{west}
172 \inheritanchor[from=rectangle]{east}
173 % ... and possibly more
174 \backgroundpath{% this is new
175 % store lower right in xa/ya and upper right in xb/yb
176 \southwest \pgf@xa=\pgf@x \pgf@ya=\pgf@y
177 \northeast \pgf@xb=\pgf@x \pgf@yb=\pgf@y
178 % compute corner of ‘‘flipped page’’
179 \pgf@xc=\pgf@xb \advance\pgf@xc by-10pt % this should be a parameter
180 \pgf@yc=\pgf@yb \advance\pgf@yc by-10pt
181 % construct main path
182 \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xa}{\pgf@ya}}
183 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xa}{\pgf@yb}}
184 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xc}{\pgf@yb}}
185 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xb}{\pgf@yc}}
186 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xb}{\pgf@ya}}
187 \pgfpathclose
188 % add little corner
189 \pgfpathmoveto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xc}{\pgf@yb}}
190 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xc}{\pgf@yc}}
191 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xb}{\pgf@yc}}
192 \pgfpathlineto{\pgfpoint{\pgf@xc}{\pgf@yc}}
193 }
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210%\interfootnotelinepenalty=10000
211
9ff90080 212\begin{document}
fe0a4c48 213\pagenumbering{roman}
531c4132 214\ififorside
9ff90080 215\frontmatter{}
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216
217
218\chapter*{Abstract}
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219\todoin{\textbf{Remove all todos (including list) before delivery/printing!!!
220Can be done by removing ``draft'' from documentclass.}}
889ba93e 221\todoin{Write abstract}
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222
223\tableofcontents{}
224\listoffigures{}
225\listoftables{}
226
227\chapter*{Preface}
228
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229The discussions in this report must be seen in the context of object oriented
230programming languages, and Java in particular, since that is the language in
231which most of the examples will be given. All though the techniques discussed
232may be applicable to languages from other paradigms, they will not be the
233subject of this report.
f3a108c3 234
055dca93 235\mainmatter
00aa0588 236
740e1b6c 237\chapter{What is Refactoring?}
7c28933b 238
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239This question is best answered by first defining the concept of a
240\emph{refactoring}, what it is to \emph{refactor}, and then discuss what aspects
a1bafe90 241of programming make people want to refactor their code.
00aa0588 242
740e1b6c 243\section{Defining refactoring}
a1bafe90 244Martin Fowler, in his classic book on refactoring\citing{refactoring}, defines a
00aa0588 245refactoring like this:
ee45c41f 246
00aa0588 247\begin{quote}
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248 \emph{Refactoring} (noun): a change made to the internal
249 structure\footnote{The structure observable by the programmer.} of software to
250 make it easier to understand and cheaper to modify without changing its
251 observable behavior.~\cite[p.~53]{refactoring}
00aa0588 252\end{quote}
ee45c41f 253
a1bafe90 254\noindent This definition assigns additional meaning to the word
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255\emph{refactoring}, beyond the composition of the prefix \emph{re-}, usually
256meaning something like ``again'' or ``anew'', and the word \emph{factoring},
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257that can mean to isolate the \emph{factors} of something. Here a \emph{factor}
258would be close to the mathematical definition of something that divides a
259quantity, without leaving a remainder. Fowler is mixing the \emph{motivation}
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260behind refactoring into his definition. Instead it could be more refined, formed
261to only consider the \emph{mechanical} and \emph{behavioral} aspects of
262refactoring. That is to factor the program again, putting it together in a
263different way than before, while preserving the behavior of the program. An
264alternative definition could then be:
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265
266\definition{A \emph{refactoring} is a transformation
8fae7b44 267done to a program without altering its external behavior.}
00aa0588 268
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269From this we can conclude that a refactoring primarily changes how the
270\emph{code} of a program is perceived by the \emph{programmer}, and not the
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271\emph{behavior} experienced by any user of the program. Although the logical
272meaning is preserved, such changes could potentially alter the program's
273behavior when it comes to performance gain or -penalties. So any logic depending
274on the performance of a program could make the program behave differently after
275a refactoring.
00aa0588 276
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277In the extreme case one could argue that \gloss{softwareObfuscation} is
278refactoring. It is often used to protect proprietary software. It restrains
279uninvited viewers, so they have a hard time analyzing code that they are not
280supposed to know how works. This could be a problem when using a language that
281is possible to decompile, such as Java.
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282
283Obfuscation could be done composing many, more or less randomly chosen,
284refactorings. Then the question arises whether it can be called a
285\emph{composite refactoring} or not \see{compositeRefactorings}? The answer is
286not obvious. First, there is no way to describe the mechanics of software
287obfuscation, because there are infinitely many ways to do that. Second,
288obfuscation can be thought of as \emph{one operation}: Either the code is
289obfuscated, or it is not. Third, it makes no sense to call software obfuscation
290\emph{a refactoring}, since it holds different meaning to different people.
291
292This last point is important, since one of the motivations behind defining
293different refactorings, is to establish a \emph{vocabulary} for software
294professionals to use when reasoning about and discussing programs, similar to
fe0a4c48 295the motivation behind \glosspl{designPattern}\citing{designPatterns}.
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296\begin{comment}
297So for describing \emph{software obfuscation}, it might be more appropriate to
298define what you do when performing it rather than precisely defining its
299mechanics in terms of other refactorings.
300\end{comment}
00aa0588 301
740e1b6c 302\section{The etymology of 'refactoring'}
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303It is a little difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of the word
304``refactoring'', as it seems to have evolved as part of a colloquial
305terminology, more than a scientific term. There is no authoritative source for a
306formal definition of it.
307
b5c7bb1b 308According to Martin Fowler\citing{etymology-refactoring}, there may also be more
f3a108c3 309than one origin of the word. The most well-known source, when it comes to the
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310origin of \emph{refactoring}, is the
311Smalltalk\footnote{\label{footNote}Programming language} community and their
fe0a4c48 312infamous \name{Refactoring
f3a108c3 313Browser}\footnote{\url{http://st-www.cs.illinois.edu/users/brant/Refactory/RefactoringBrowser.html}}
fe0a4c48 314described in the article \tit{A Refactoring Tool for
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315Smalltalk}\citing{refactoringBrowser1997}, published in 1997.
316Allegedly\citing{etymology-refactoring}, the metaphor of factoring programs was
b4e539f7 317also present in the Forth\textsuperscript{\ref{footNote}} community, and the
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318word ``refactoring'' is mentioned in a book by Leo Brodie, called \tit{Thinking
319Forth}\citing{brodie2004}, first published in 1984\footnote{\tit{Thinking Forth}
320was first published in 1984 by the \name{Forth Interest Group}. Then it was
321reprinted in 1994 with minor typographical corrections, before it was
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322transcribed into an electronic edition typeset in \LaTeX\ and published under a
323Creative Commons licence in
3242004. The edition cited here is the 2004 edition, but the content should
325essentially be as in 1984.}. The exact word is only printed one
326place~\cite[p.~232]{brodie2004}, but the term \emph{factoring} is prominent in
327the book, that also contains a whole chapter dedicated to (re)factoring, and how
328to keep the (Forth) code clean and maintainable.
ee45c41f 329
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330\begin{quote}
331 \ldots good factoring technique is perhaps the most important skill for a
3a154bb7 332 Forth programmer.~\cite[p.~172]{brodie2004}
f3a108c3 333\end{quote}
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334
335\noindent Brodie also express what \emph{factoring} means to him:
336
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337\begin{quote}
338 Factoring means organizing code into useful fragments. To make a fragment
339 useful, you often must separate reusable parts from non-reusable parts. The
340 reusable parts become new definitions. The non-reusable parts become arguments
3a154bb7 341 or parameters to the definitions.~\cite[p.~172]{brodie2004}
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342\end{quote}
343
344Fowler claims that the usage of the word \emph{refactoring} did not pass between
fe0a4c48 345the \name{Forth} and \name{Smalltalk} communities, but that it emerged
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346independently in each of the communities.
347
740e1b6c 348\section{Motivation -- Why people refactor}
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349There are many reasons why people want to refactor their programs. They can for
350instance do it to remove duplication, break up long methods or to introduce
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351design patterns into their software systems. The shared trait for all these are
352that peoples' intentions are to make their programs \emph{better}, in some
353sense. But what aspects of their programs are becoming improved?
354
355As just mentioned, people often refactor to get rid of duplication. They are
356moving identical or similar code into methods, and are pushing methods up or
357down in their class hierarchies. They are making template methods for
358overlapping algorithms/functionality, and so on. It is all about gathering what
359belongs together and putting it all in one place. The resulting code is then
360easier to maintain. When removing the implicit coupling\footnote{When
361 duplicating code, the duplicate pieces of code might not be coupled, apart
362from representing the same functionality. So if this functionality is going to
363change, it might need to change in more than one place, thus creating an
364implicit coupling between multiple pieces of code.} between code snippets, the
137e0e7b 365location of a bug is limited to only one place, and new functionality need only
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366to be added to this one place, instead of a number of places people might not
367even remember.
368
369A problem you often encounter when programming, is that a program contains a lot
370of long and hard-to-grasp methods. It can then help to break the methods into
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371smaller ones, using the \ExtractMethod refactoring\citing{refactoring}. Then
372you may discover something about a program that you were not aware of before;
373revealing bugs you did not know about or could not find due to the complex
374structure of your program. \todo{Proof?} Making the methods smaller and giving
375good names to the new ones clarifies the algorithms and enhances the
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376\emph{understandability} of the program \see{magic_number_seven}. This makes
377refactoring an excellent method for exploring unknown program code, or code that
378you had forgotten that you wrote.
379
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380Most primitive refactorings are simple, and usually involves moving code
381around\citing{kerievsky2005}. The motivation behind them may first be revealed
382when they are combined into larger --- higher level --- refactorings, called
a1bafe90 383\emph{composite refactorings} \see{compositeRefactorings}. Often the goal of
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384such a series of refactorings is a design pattern. Thus the design can
385\emph{evolve} throughout the lifetime of a program, as opposed to designing
386up-front. It is all about being structured and taking small steps to improve a
387program's design.
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388
389Many software design pattern are aimed at lowering the coupling between
390different classes and different layers of logic. One of the most famous is
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391perhaps the \pattern{Model-View-Controller}\citing{designPatterns} pattern. It
392is aimed at lowering the coupling between the user interface, the business logic
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393and the data representation of a program. This also has the added benefit that
394the business logic could much easier be the target of automated tests, thus
395increasing the productivity in the software development process.
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396
397Another effect of refactoring is that with the increased separation of concerns
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398coming out of many refactorings, the \emph{performance} can be improved. When
399profiling programs, the problematic parts are narrowed down to smaller parts of
400the code, which are easier to tune, and optimization can be performed only where
b4e539f7 401needed and in a more effective way\citing{refactoring}.
137e0e7b 402
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403Last, but not least, and this should probably be the best reason to refactor, is
404to refactor to \emph{facilitate a program change}. If one has managed to keep
405one's code clean and tidy, and the code is not bloated with design patterns that
a1bafe90 406are not ever going to be needed, then some refactoring might be needed to
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407introduce a design pattern that is appropriate for the change that is going to
408happen.
409
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410Refactoring program code --- with a goal in mind --- can give the code itself
411more value. That is in the form of robustness to bugs, understandability and
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412maintainability. Having robust code is an obvious advantage, but
413understandability and maintainability are both very important aspects of
414software development. By incorporating refactoring in the development process,
415bugs are found faster, new functionality is added more easily and code is easier
416to understand by the next person exposed to it, which might as well be the
417person who wrote it. The consequence of this, is that refactoring can increase
418the average productivity of the development process, and thus also add to the
419monetary value of a business in the long run. The perspective on productivity
420and money should also be able to open the eyes of the many nearsighted managers
421that seldom see beyond the next milestone.
137e0e7b 422
b01d328a 423\section{The magical number seven}\label{magic_number_seven}
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424The article \tit{The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on our
425capacity for processing information}\citing{miller1956} by George A. Miller,
426was published in the journal \name{Psychological Review} in 1956. It presents
427evidence that support that the capacity of the number of objects a human being
428can hold in its working memory is roughly seven, plus or minus two objects. This
429number varies a bit depending on the nature and complexity of the objects, but
430is according to Miller ``\ldots never changing so much as to be
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431unrecognizable.''
432
433Miller's article culminates in the section called \emph{Recoding}, a term he
434borrows from communication theory. The central result in this section is that by
435recoding information, the capacity of the amount of information that a human can
436process at a time is increased. By \emph{recoding}, Miller means to group
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437objects together in chunks, and give each chunk a new name that it can be
438remembered by.
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439
440\begin{quote}
441 \ldots recoding is an extremely powerful weapon for increasing the amount of
4cb06723 442 information that we can deal with.~\cite[p.~95]{miller1956}
f4cea2d6 443\end{quote}
ee45c41f 444
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445By organizing objects into patterns of ever growing depth, one can memorize and
446process a much larger amount of data than if it were to be represented as its
447basic pieces. This grouping and renaming is analogous to how many refactorings
448work, by grouping pieces of code and give them a new name. Examples are the
fe0a4c48 449fundamental \ExtractMethod and \refa{Extract Class}
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450refactorings\citing{refactoring}.
451
a1bafe90 452An example from the article addresses the problem of memorizing a sequence of
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453binary digits. The example presented here is a slightly modified version of the
454one presented in the original article\citing{miller1956}, but it preserves the
3ab3e132 455essence of it. Let us say we have the following sequence of
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45616 binary digits: ``1010001001110011''. Most of us will have a hard time
457memorizing this sequence by only reading it once or twice. Imagine if we instead
458translate it to this sequence: ``A273''. If you have a background from computer
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459science, it will be obvious that the latter sequence is the first sequence
460recoded to be represented by digits in base 16. Most people should be able to
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461memorize this last sequence by only looking at it once.
462
463Another result from the Miller article is that when the amount of information a
464human must interpret increases, it is crucial that the translation from one code
465to another must be almost automatic for the subject to be able to remember the
0d7fbd88 466translation, before \heshe is presented with new information to recode. Thus
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467learning and understanding how to best organize certain kinds of data is
468essential to efficiently handle that kind of data in the future. This is much
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469like when humans learn to read. First they must learn how to recognize letters.
470Then they can learn distinct words, and later read sequences of words that form
471whole sentences. Eventually, most of them will be able to read whole books and
472briefly retell the important parts of its content. This suggest that the use of
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473design patterns is a good idea when reasoning about computer programs. With
474extensive use of design patterns when creating complex program structures, one
475does not always have to read whole classes of code to comprehend how they
476function, it may be sufficient to only see the name of a class to almost fully
477understand its responsibilities.
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478
479\begin{quote}
480 Our language is tremendously useful for repackaging material into a few chunks
4cb06723 481 rich in information.~\cite[p.~95]{miller1956}
f4cea2d6 482\end{quote}
ee45c41f 483
a1bafe90 484Without further evidence, these results at least indicate that refactoring
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485source code into smaller units with higher cohesion and, when needed,
486introducing appropriate design patterns, should aid in the cause of creating
b4e539f7 487computer programs that are easier to maintain and have code that is easier (and
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488better) understood.
489
740e1b6c 490\section{Notable contributions to the refactoring literature}
bd94b131 491\todoin{Thinking Forth?}
36d99783 492
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493\begin{description}
494 \item[1992] William F. Opdyke submits his doctoral dissertation called
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495 \tit{Refactoring Object-Oriented Frameworks}\citing{opdyke1992}. This work
496 defines a set of refactorings, that are behavior preserving given that their
497 preconditions are met. The dissertation is focused on the automation of
498 refactorings.
499 \item[1999] Martin Fowler et al.: \tit{Refactoring: Improving the Design of
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500 Existing Code}\citing{refactoring}. This is maybe the most influential text
501 on refactoring. It bares similarities with Opdykes thesis\citing{opdyke1992}
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502 in the way that it provides a catalog of refactorings. But Fowler's book is
503 more about the craft of refactoring, as he focuses on establishing a
504 vocabulary for refactoring, together with the mechanics of different
505 refactorings and when to perform them. His methodology is also founded on
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506 the principles of test-driven development.
507 \item[2005] Joshua Kerievsky: \tit{Refactoring to
36d99783 508 Patterns}\citing{kerievsky2005}. This book is heavily influenced by Fowler's
fe0a4c48 509 \tit{Refactoring}\citing{refactoring} and the ``Gang of Four'' \tit{Design
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510 Patterns}\citing{designPatterns}. It is building on the refactoring
511 catalogue from Fowler's book, but is trying to bridge the gap between
512 \emph{refactoring} and \emph{design patterns} by providing a series of
513 higher-level composite refactorings, that makes code evolve toward or away
fe0a4c48 514 from certain design patterns. The book is trying to build up the reader's
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515 intuition around \emph{why} one would want to use a particular design
516 pattern, and not just \emph{how}. The book is encouraging evolutionary
e123ab03 517 design \see{relationToDesignPatterns}.
d21ef41f 518\end{description}
3b7c1d90 519
110dae91 520\section{Tool support (for Java)}\label{toolSupport}
3ab3e132 521This section will briefly compare the refactoring support of the three IDEs
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522\name{Eclipse}\footnote{\url{http://www.eclipse.org/}}, \name{IntelliJ
523IDEA}\footnote{The IDE under comparison is the \name{Community Edition},
4e135659 524\url{http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/}} and
fe0a4c48 525\name{NetBeans}\footnote{\url{https://netbeans.org/}}. These are the most
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526popular Java IDEs\citing{javaReport2011}.
527
528All three IDEs provide support for the most useful refactorings, like the
529different extract, move and rename refactorings. In fact, Java-targeted IDEs are
530known for their good refactoring support, so this did not appear as a big
531surprise.
532
533The IDEs seem to have excellent support for the \ExtractMethod refactoring, so
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534at least they have all passed the first ``refactoring
535rubicon''\citing{fowlerRubicon2001,secondRubicon2012}.
4e135659 536
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537Regarding the \MoveMethod refactoring, the \name{Eclipse} and \name{IntelliJ}
538IDEs do the job in very similar manners. In most situations they both do a
539satisfying job by producing the expected outcome. But they do nothing to check
540that the result does not break the semantics of the program \see{correctness}.
fe0a4c48 541The \name{NetBeans} IDE implements this refactoring in a somewhat
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542unsophisticated way. For starters, the refactoring's default destination for the
543move, is the same class as the method already resides in, although it refuses to
544perform the refactoring if chosen. But the worst part is, that if moving the
545method \method{f} of the class \type{C} to the class \type{X}, it will break the
546code. The result is shown in \myref{lst:moveMethod_NetBeans}.
4e135659 547
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548\begin{listing}
549\begin{multicols}{2}
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550\begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
551public class C {
552 private X x;
553 ...
554 public void f() {
555 x.m();
556 x.n();
557 }
558}
559\end{minted}
560
347ed677 561\columnbreak
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562
563\begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
564public class X {
565 ...
566 public void f(C c) {
567 c.x.m();
568 c.x.n();
569 }
570}
571\end{minted}
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572\end{multicols}
573\caption{Moving method \method{f} from \type{C} to \type{X}.}
574\label{lst:moveMethod_NetBeans}
575\end{listing}
4e135659 576
fe0a4c48 577\name{NetBeans} will try to create code that call the methods \method{m} and \method{n}
4e135659 578of \type{X} by accessing them through \var{c.x}, where \var{c} is a parameter of
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579type \type{C} that is added the method \method{f} when it is moved. (This is
580seldom the desired outcome of this refactoring, but ironically, this ``feature''
fe0a4c48 581keeps \name{NetBeans} from breaking the code in the example from \myref{correctness}.)
8b6b22c8 582If \var{c.x} for some reason is inaccessible to \type{X}, as in this case, the
fe0a4c48 583refactoring breaks the code, and it will not compile. \name{NetBeans} presents a
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584preview of the refactoring outcome, but the preview does not catch it if the IDE
585is about break the program.
4778044b 586
b4e539f7 587The IDEs under investigation seem to have fairly good support for primitive
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588refactorings, but what about more complex ones, such as
589\gloss{extractClass}\citing{refactoring}? \name{IntelliJ} handles this in a
590fairly good manner, although, in the case of private methods, it leaves unused
a1bafe90 591methods behind. These are methods that delegate to a field with the type of the
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592new class, but are not used anywhere. \name{Eclipse} has added its own quirk to
593the \refa{Extract Class} refactoring, and only allows for \emph{fields} to be
594moved to a new class, \emph{not methods}. This makes it effectively only
595extracting a data structure, and calling it \refa{Extract Class} is a little
b4e539f7 596misleading. One would often be better off with textual extract and paste than
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597using the \refa{Extract Class} refactoring in \name{Eclipse}. When it comes to
598\name{NetBeans}, it does not even show an attempt on providing this refactoring.
4778044b 599
36d99783 600\section{The relation to design patterns}\label{relationToDesignPatterns}
4cb06723 601
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602Refactoring and design patterns have at least one thing in common, they are both
603promoted by advocates of \emph{clean code}\citing{cleanCode} as fundamental
604tools on the road to more maintainable and extendable source code.
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605
606\begin{quote}
607 Design patterns help you determine how to reorganize a design, and they can
608 reduce the amount of refactoring you need to do
609 later.~\cite[p.~353]{designPatterns}
610\end{quote}
611
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612Although sometimes associated with
613over-engineering\citing{kerievsky2005,refactoring}, design patterns are in
614general assumed to be good for maintainability of source code. That may be
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615because many of them are designed to support the \emph{open/closed principle} of
616object-oriented programming. The principle was first formulated by Bertrand
617Meyer, the creator of the Eiffel programming language, like this: ``Modules
618should be both open and closed.''\citing{meyer1988} It has been popularized,
619with this as a common version:
620
621\begin{quote}
622 Software entities (classes, modules, functions, etc.) should be open for
623 extension, but closed for modification.\footnote{See
624 \url{http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?OpenClosedPrinciple} or
625 \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open/closed_principle}}
626\end{quote}
627
628Maintainability is often thought of as the ability to be able to introduce new
a1bafe90 629functionality without having to change too much of the old code. When
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630refactoring, the motivation is often to facilitate adding new functionality. It
631is about factoring the old code in a way that makes the new functionality being
632able to benefit from the functionality already residing in a software system,
633without having to copy old code into new. Then, next time someone shall add new
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634functionality, it is less likely that the old code has to change. Assuming that
635a design pattern is the best way to get rid of duplication and assist in
636implementing new functionality, it is reasonable to conclude that a design
637pattern often is the target of a series of refactorings. Having a repertoire of
638design patterns can also help in knowing when and how to refactor a program to
639make it reflect certain desired characteristics.
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640
641\begin{quote}
a1bafe90 642 There is a natural relation between patterns and refactorings. Patterns are
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643 where you want to be; refactorings are ways to get there from somewhere
644 else.~\cite[p.~107]{refactoring}
645\end{quote}
646
647This quote is wise in many contexts, but it is not always appropriate to say
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648``Patterns are where you want to be\ldots''. \emph{Sometimes}, patterns are
649where you want to be, but only because it will benefit your design. It is not
650true that one should always try to incorporate as many design patterns as
651possible into a program. It is not like they have intrinsic value. They only add
652value to a system when they support its design. Otherwise, the use of design
653patterns may only lead to a program that is more complex than necessary.
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654
655\begin{quote}
656 The overuse of patterns tends to result from being patterns happy. We are
657 \emph{patterns happy} when we become so enamored of patterns that we simply
658 must use them in our code.~\cite[p.~24]{kerievsky2005}
659\end{quote}
660
661This can easily happen when relying largely on up-front design. Then it is
662natural, in the very beginning, to try to build in all the flexibility that one
663believes will be necessary throughout the lifetime of a software system.
664According to Joshua Kerievsky ``That sounds reasonable --- if you happen to be
665psychic.''~\cite[p.~1]{kerievsky2005} He is advocating what he believes is a
666better approach: To let software continually evolve. To start with a simple
667design that meets today's needs, and tackle future needs by refactoring to
668satisfy them. He believes that this is a more economic approach than investing
669time and money into a design that inevitably is going to change. By relying on
670continuously refactoring a system, its design can be made simpler without
671sacrificing flexibility. To be able to fully rely on this approach, it is of
e123ab03 672utter importance to have a reliable suit of tests to lean on \see{testing}. This
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673makes the design process more natural and less characterized by difficult
674decisions that has to be made before proceeding in the process, and that is
675going to define a project for all of its unforeseeable future.
676
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677\begin{comment}
678
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679\section{Classification of refactorings}
680% only interesting refactorings
681% with 2 detailed examples? One for structured and one for intra-method?
682% Is replacing Bubblesort with Quick Sort considered a refactoring?
683
684\subsection{Structural refactorings}
685
f65da046 686\subsubsection{Primitive refactorings}
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687
688% Composing Methods
689\explanation{Extract Method}{You have a code fragment that can be grouped
690together.}{Turn the fragment into a method whose name explains the purpose of
691the method.}
692
693\explanation{Inline Method}{A method's body is just as clear as its name.}{Put
694the method's body into the body of its callers and remove the method.}
695
696\explanation{Inline Temp}{You have a temp that is assigned to once with a simple
697expression, and the temp is getting in the way of other refactorings.}{Replace
698all references to that temp with the expression}
699
700% Moving Features Between Objects
701\explanation{Move Method}{A method is, or will be, using or used by more
702features of another class than the class on which it is defined.}{Create a new
703method with a similar body in the class it uses most. Either turn the old method
704into a simple delegation, or remove it altogether.}
705
706\explanation{Move Field}{A field is, or will be, used by another class more than
707the class on which it is defined}{Create a new field in the target class, and
708change all its users.}
709
710% Organizing Data
711\explanation{Replace Magic Number with Symbolic Constant}{You have a literal
712number with a particular meaning.}{Create a constant, name it after the meaning,
713and replace the number with it.}
714
715\explanation{Encapsulate Field}{There is a public field.}{Make it private and
716provide accessors.}
717
718\explanation{Replace Type Code with Class}{A class has a numeric type code that
8fae7b44 719does not affect its behavior.}{Replace the number with a new class.}
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720
721\explanation{Replace Type Code with Subclasses}{You have an immutable type code
8fae7b44 722that affects the behavior of a class.}{Replace the type code with subclasses.}
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723
724\explanation{Replace Type Code with State/Strategy}{You have a type code that
8fae7b44 725affects the behavior of a class, but you cannot use subclassing.}{Replace the
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726type code with a state object.}
727
728% Simplifying Conditional Expressions
729\explanation{Consolidate Duplicate Conditional Fragments}{The same fragment of
8fae7b44 730code is in all branches of a conditional expression.}{Move it outside of the
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731expression.}
732
733\explanation{Remove Control Flag}{You have a variable that is acting as a
734control flag fro a series of boolean expressions.}{Use a break or return
735instead.}
736
737\explanation{Replace Nested Conditional with Guard Clauses}{A method has
8fae7b44 738conditional behavior that does not make clear the normal path of
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739execution.}{Use guard clauses for all special cases.}
740
8fae7b44 741\explanation{Introduce Null Object}{You have repeated checks for a null
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742value.}{Replace the null value with a null object.}
743
744\explanation{Introduce Assertion}{A section of code assumes something about the
745state of the program.}{Make the assumption explicit with an assertion.}
746
747% Making Method Calls Simpler
748\explanation{Rename Method}{The name of a method does not reveal its
749purpose.}{Change the name of the method}
750
751\explanation{Add Parameter}{A method needs more information from its
752caller.}{Add a parameter for an object that can pass on this information.}
753
754\explanation{Remove Parameter}{A parameter is no longer used by the method
755body.}{Remove it.}
756
757%\explanation{Parameterize Method}{Several methods do similar things but with
758%different values contained in the method.}{Create one method that uses a
759%parameter for the different values.}
760
761\explanation{Preserve Whole Object}{You are getting several values from an
762object and passing these values as parameters in a method call.}{Send the whole
763object instead.}
764
765\explanation{Remove Setting Method}{A field should be set at creation time and
766never altered.}{Remove any setting method for that field.}
767
768\explanation{Hide Method}{A method is not used by any other class.}{Make the
769method private.}
770
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771\explanation{Replace Constructor with Factory Method}{You want to do more than
772simple construction when you create an object}{Replace the constructor with a
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773factory method.}
774
775% Dealing with Generalization
8fae7b44 776\explanation{Pull Up Field}{Two subclasses have the same field.}{Move the field
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777to the superclass.}
778
779\explanation{Pull Up Method}{You have methods with identical results on
780subclasses.}{Move them to the superclass.}
781
8fae7b44 782\explanation{Push Down Method}{Behavior on a superclass is relevant only for
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783some of its subclasses.}{Move it to those subclasses.}
784
785\explanation{Push Down Field}{A field is used only by some subclasses.}{Move the
786field to those subclasses}
787
788\explanation{Extract Interface}{Several clients use the same subset of a class's
8fae7b44 789interface, or two classes have part of their interfaces in common.}{Extract the
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790subset into an interface.}
791
792\explanation{Replace Inheritance with Delegation}{A subclass uses only part of a
793superclasses interface or does not want to inherit data.}{Create a field for the
794superclass, adjust methods to delegate to the superclass, and remove the
795subclassing.}
796
797\explanation{Replace Delegation with Inheritance}{You're using delegation and
798are often writing many simple delegations for the entire interface}{Make the
799delegating class a subclass of the delegate.}
800
801\subsubsection{Composite refactorings}
802
803% Composing Methods
804% \explanation{Replace Method with Method Object}{}{}
805
806% Moving Features Between Objects
807\explanation{Extract Class}{You have one class doing work that should be done by
808two}{Create a new class and move the relevant fields and methods from the old
809class into the new class.}
810
811\explanation{Inline Class}{A class isn't doing very much.}{Move all its features
812into another class and delete it.}
813
814\explanation{Hide Delegate}{A client is calling a delegate class of an
815object.}{Create Methods on the server to hide the delegate.}
816
817\explanation{Remove Middle Man}{A class is doing to much simple delegation.}{Get
818the client to call the delegate directly.}
819
820% Organizing Data
821\explanation{Replace Data Value with Object}{You have a data item that needs
8fae7b44 822additional data or behavior.}{Turn the data item into an object.}
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823
824\explanation{Change Value to Reference}{You have a class with many equal
825instances that you want to replace with a single object.}{Turn the object into a
826reference object.}
827
828\explanation{Encapsulate Collection}{A method returns a collection}{Make it
8fae7b44 829return a read-only view and provide add/remove methods.}
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830
831% \explanation{Replace Array with Object}{}{}
832
833\explanation{Replace Subclass with Fields}{You have subclasses that vary only in
834methods that return constant data.}{Change the methods to superclass fields and
835eliminate the subclasses.}
836
837% Simplifying Conditional Expressions
838\explanation{Decompose Conditional}{You have a complicated conditional
839(if-then-else) statement.}{Extract methods from the condition, then part, an
840else part.}
841
842\explanation{Consolidate Conditional Expression}{You have a sequence of
843conditional tests with the same result.}{Combine them into a single conditional
844expression and extract it.}
845
846\explanation{Replace Conditional with Polymorphism}{You have a conditional that
8fae7b44 847chooses different behavior depending on the type of an object.}{Move each leg
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848of the conditional to an overriding method in a subclass. Make the original
849method abstract.}
850
851% Making Method Calls Simpler
852\explanation{Replace Parameter with Method}{An object invokes a method, then
853passes the result as a parameter for a method. The receiver can also invoke this
854method.}{Remove the parameter and let the receiver invoke the method.}
855
856\explanation{Introduce Parameter Object}{You have a group of parameters that
857naturally go together.}{Replace them with an object.}
858
859% Dealing with Generalization
860\explanation{Extract Subclass}{A class has features that are used only in some
861instances.}{Create a subclass for that subset of features.}
862
863\explanation{Extract Superclass}{You have two classes with similar
864features.}{Create a superclass and move the common features to the
865superclass.}
866
867\explanation{Collapse Hierarchy}{A superclass and subclass are not very
868different.}{Merge them together.}
869
870\explanation{Form Template Method}{You have two methods in subclasses that
871perform similar steps in the same order, yet the steps are different.}{Get the
872steps into methods with the same signature, so that the original methods become
873the same. Then you can pull them up.}
874
875
876\subsection{Functional refactorings}
877
878\explanation{Substitute Algorithm}{You want to replace an algorithm with one
879that is clearer.}{Replace the body of the method with the new algorithm.}
00aa0588 880
b289552b 881\end{comment}
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882
883\section{The impact on software quality}
884
a1bafe90 885\subsection{What is software quality?}
00aa0588 886The term \emph{software quality} has many meanings. It all depends on the
9a55a5bc 887context we put it in. If we look at it with the eyes of a software developer, it
a1bafe90 888usually means that the software is easily maintainable and testable, or in other
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889words, that it is \emph{well designed}. This often correlates with the
890management scale, where \emph{keeping the schedule} and \emph{customer
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891satisfaction} is at the center. From the customers point of view, in addition to
892good usability, \emph{performance} and \emph{lack of bugs} is always
893appreciated, measurements that are also shared by the software developer. (In
894addition, such things as good documentation could be measured, but this is out
895of the scope of this document.)
9a55a5bc 896
00aa0588 897\subsection{The impact on performance}
9a55a5bc 898\begin{quote}
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899 Refactoring certainly will make software go more slowly\footnote{With todays
900 compiler optimization techniques and performance tuning of e.g. the Java
901virtual machine, the penalties of object creation and method calls are
902debatable.}, but it also makes the software more amenable to performance
903tuning.~\cite[p.~69]{refactoring}
9a55a5bc 904\end{quote}
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905
906\noindent There is a common belief that refactoring compromises performance, due
907to increased degree of indirection and that polymorphism is slower than
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908conditionals.
909
b5c7bb1b 910In a survey, Demeyer\citing{demeyer2002} disproves this view in the case of
a1bafe90 911polymorphism. He did an experiment on, what he calls, ``Transform Self Type
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912Checks'' where you introduce a new polymorphic method and a new class hierarchy
913to get rid of a class' type checking of a ``type attribute``. He uses this kind
914of transformation to represent other ways of replacing conditionals with
915polymorphism as well. The experiment is performed on the C++ programming
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916language and with three different compilers and platforms. Demeyer concludes
917that, with compiler optimization turned on, polymorphism beats middle to large
918sized if-statements and does as well as case-statements. (In accordance with
919his hypothesis, due to similarities between the way C++ handles polymorphism and
920case-statements.)
ee45c41f 921
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922\begin{quote}
923 The interesting thing about performance is that if you analyze most programs,
b5c7bb1b 924 you find that they waste most of their time in a small fraction of the
4cb06723 925 code.~\cite[p.~70]{refactoring}
9a55a5bc 926\end{quote}
9a55a5bc 927
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928\noindent So, although an increased amount of method calls could potentially
929slow down programs, one should avoid premature optimization and sacrificing good
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930design, leaving the performance tuning until after \gloss{profiling} the
931software and having isolated the actual problem areas.
00aa0588 932
0d7fbd88 933\section{Composite refactorings}\label{compositeRefactorings}
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934\todo{motivation, examples, manual vs automated?, what about refactoring in a
935very large code base?}
6065c96c 936Generally, when thinking about refactoring, at the mechanical level, there are
f65da046 937essentially two kinds of refactorings. There are the \emph{primitive}
a1bafe90 938refactorings, and the \emph{composite} refactorings.
6065c96c 939
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940\definition{A \emph{primitive refactoring} is a refactoring that cannot be
941expressed in terms of other refactorings.}
f65da046 942
fe0a4c48 943\noindent Examples are the \refa{Pull Up Field} and \refa{Pull Up
a1bafe90 944Method} refactorings\citing{refactoring}, that move members up in their class
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945hierarchies.
946
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947\definition{A \emph{composite refactoring} is a refactoring that can be
948expressed in terms of two or more other refactorings.}
f65da046 949
fe0a4c48 950\noindent An example of a composite refactoring is the \refa{Extract
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951Superclass} refactoring\citing{refactoring}. In its simplest form, it is composed
952of the previously described primitive refactorings, in addition to the
fe0a4c48 953\refa{Pull Up Constructor Body} refactoring\citing{refactoring}. It works
b5c7bb1b 954by creating an abstract superclass that the target class(es) inherits from, then
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955by applying \refa{Pull Up Field}, \refa{Pull Up Method} and
956\refa{Pull Up Constructor Body} on the members that are to be members of
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957the new superclass. If there are multiple classes in play, their interfaces may
958need to be united with the help of some rename refactorings, before extracting
fe0a4c48 959the superclass. For an overview of the \refa{Extract Superclass}
8b6b22c8 960refactoring, see \myref{fig:extractSuperclass}.
6065c96c 961
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962\begin{figure}[h]
963 \centering
faa9f4f3 964 \includegraphics[angle=270,width=\linewidth]{extractSuperclassItalic.pdf}
f5fb40e4 965 \caption{The Extract Superclass refactoring, with united interfaces.}
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966 \label{fig:extractSuperclass}
967\end{figure}
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968
969\section{Manual vs. automated refactorings}
0d7fbd88 970Refactoring is something every programmer does, even if \heshe does not known
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971the term \emph{refactoring}. Every refinement of source code that does not alter
972the program's behavior is a refactoring. For small refactorings, such as
0d7fbd88 973\ExtractMethod, executing it manually is a manageable task, but is still prone
a1bafe90 974to errors. Getting it right the first time is not easy, considering the method
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975signature and all the other aspects of the refactoring that has to be in place.
976
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977Consider the renaming of classes, methods and fields. For complex programs these
978refactorings are almost impossible to get right. Attacking them with textual
979search and replace, or even regular expressions, will fall short on these tasks.
980Then it is crucial to have proper tool support that can perform them
981automatically. Tools that can parse source code and thus have semantic knowledge
982about which occurrences of which names belong to what construct in the program.
983For even trying to perform one of these complex task manually, one would have to
984be very confident on the existing test suite \see{testing}.
00aa0588 985
19c4f27d 986\section{Correctness of refactorings}\label{correctness}
f65da046 987For automated refactorings to be truly useful, they must show a high degree of
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988behavior preservation. This last sentence might seem obvious, but there are
989examples of refactorings in existing tools that break programs. In an ideal
990world, every automated refactoring would be ``complete'', in the sense that it
991would never break a program. In an ideal world, every program would also be free
992from bugs. In modern IDEs the implemented automated refactorings are working for
993\emph{most} cases, that is enough for making them useful.
994
995I will now present an example of a \emph{corner case} where a program breaks
996when a refactoring is applied. The example shows an \ExtractMethod refactoring
997followed by a \MoveMethod refactoring that breaks a program in both the
fe0a4c48 998\name{Eclipse} and \name{IntelliJ} IDEs\footnote{The \name{NetBeans} IDE handles this
3ab3e132 999 particular situation without altering the program's behavior, mainly because
fe0a4c48 1000 its \refa{Move Method} refactoring implementation is a bit flawed in other ways
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1001 \see{toolSupport}.}. The target and the destination for the composed
1002 refactoring is shown in \myref{lst:correctnessExtractAndMove}. Note that the
1003 method \method{m(C c)} of class \type{X} assigns to the field \var{x} of the
1004 argument \var{c} that has type \type{C}.
1005
1006\begin{listing}[h]
1007\begin{multicols}{2}
1008\begin{minted}[linenos]{java}
1009// Refactoring target
ddcea0b5 1010public class C {
f5fb40e4 1011 public X x = new X();
ee45c41f 1012
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1013 public void f() {
1014 x.m(this);
1015 // Not the same x
1016 x.n();
1017 }
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1018}
1019\end{minted}
ee45c41f 1020
f5fb40e4 1021\columnbreak
ee45c41f 1022
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1023\begin{minted}[]{java}
1024// Method destination
ee45c41f 1025public class X {
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1026 public void m(C c) {
1027 c.x = new X();
1028 // If m is called from
1029 // c, then c.x no longer
1030 // equals 'this'
1031 }
1032 public void n() {}
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1033}
1034\end{minted}
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1035\end{multicols}
1036\caption{The target and the destination for the composition of the Extract
fe0a4c48 1037Method and \refa{Move Method} refactorings.}
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1038\label{lst:correctnessExtractAndMove}
1039\end{listing}
ee45c41f 1040
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1041
1042The refactoring sequence works by extracting line 6 through 8 from the original
3510e539 1043class \type{C} into a method \method{f} with the statements from those lines as
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1044its method body (but with the comment left out, since it will no longer hold any
1045meaning). The method is then moved to the class \type{X}. The result is shown
1046in \myref{lst:correctnessExtractAndMoveResult}.
ee45c41f 1047
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1048Before the refactoring, the methods \method{m} and \method{n} of class \type{X}
1049are called on different object instances (see line 6 and 8 of the original class
1050\type{C} in \cref{lst:correctnessExtractAndMove}). After the refactoring, they
1051are called on the same object, and the statement on line
10523 of class \type{X} (in \cref{lst:correctnessExtractAndMoveResult}) no longer
1053 has the desired effect in our example. The method \method{f} of class \type{C}
1054 is now calling the method \method{f} of class \type{X} (see line 5 of class
1055 \type{C} in \cref{lst:correctnessExtractAndMoveResult}), and the program now
1056 behaves different than before.
1057
1058\begin{listing}[h]
1059\begin{multicols}{2}
1060\begin{minted}[linenos]{java}
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1061public class C {
1062 public X x = new X();
1063
1064 public void f() {
1065 x.f(this);
1066 }
1067}
1068\end{minted}
1069
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1070\columnbreak
1071
1072\begin{minted}[linenos]{java}
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1073public class X {
1074 public void m(C c) {
1075 c.x = new X();
1076 }
1077 public void n() {}
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1078 // Extracted and
1079 // moved method
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1080 public void f(C c) {
1081 m(c);
1082 n();
1083 }
1084}
1085\end{minted}
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1086\end{multicols}
1087\caption{The result of the composed refactoring.}
1088\label{lst:correctnessExtractAndMoveResult}
1089\end{listing}
ddcea0b5 1090
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1091The bug introduced in the previous example is of such a nature\footnote{Caused
1092 by aliasing. See \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing_(computing)}}
1093 that it is very difficult to spot if the refactored code is not covered by
1094 tests. It does not generate compilation errors, and will thus only result in
1095 a runtime error or corrupted data, which might be hard to detect.
19c4f27d 1096
29f39f29 1097\section{Refactoring and the importance of testing}\label{testing}
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1098\begin{quote}
1099 If you want to refactor, the essential precondition is having solid
1100 tests.\citing{refactoring}
1101\end{quote}
1102
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1103When refactoring, there are roughly three classes of errors that can be made.
1104The first class of errors are the ones that make the code unable to compile.
1105These \emph{compile-time} errors are of the nicer kind. They flash up at the
1106moment they are made (at least when using an IDE), and are usually easy to fix.
1107The second class are the \emph{runtime} errors. Although they take a bit longer
1108to surface, they usually manifest after some time in an illegal argument
1109exception, null pointer exception or similar during the program execution.
1110These kind of errors are a bit harder to handle, but at least they will show,
1111eventually. Then there are the \emph{behavior-changing} errors. These errors are
1112of the worst kind. They do not show up during compilation and they do not turn
1113on a blinking red light during runtime either. The program can seem to work
1114perfectly fine with them in play, but the business logic can be damaged in ways
1115that will only show up over time.
1116
1117For discovering runtime errors and behavior changes when refactoring, it is
1118essential to have good test coverage. Testing in this context means writing
1119automated tests. Manual testing may have its uses, but when refactoring, it is
1120automated unit testing that dominate. For discovering behavior changes it is
1121especially important to have tests that cover potential problems, since these
1122kind of errors does not reveal themselves.
1123
1124Unit testing is not a way to \emph{prove} that a program is correct, but it is a
3ab3e132 1125way to make you confident that it \emph{probably} works as desired. In the
4928aa0b 1126context of test-driven development (commonly known as TDD), the tests are even a
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1127way to define how the program is \emph{supposed} to work. It is then, by
1128definition, working if the tests are passing.
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1129
1130If the test coverage for a code base is perfect, then it should, theoretically,
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1131be risk-free to perform refactorings on it. This is why automated tests and
1132refactoring are such a great match.
f65da046 1133
b5d53f51 1134\subsection{Testing the code from correctness section}
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1135The worst thing that can happen when refactoring is to introduce changes to the
1136behavior of a program, as in the example on \myref{correctness}. This example
1137may be trivial, but the essence is clear. The only problem with the example is
1138that it is not clear how to create automated tests for it, without changing it
1139in intrusive ways.
1140
20bcc7bf 1141Unit tests, as they are known from the different \glosspl{xUnit} around, are
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1142only suitable to test the \emph{result} of isolated operations. They can not
1143easily (if at all) observe the \emph{history} of a program.
b5d53f51 1144
a13e5650 1145This problem is still open.
116805bf 1146
a13e5650 1147\begin{comment}
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1148
1149Assuming a sequential (non-concurrent) program:
1150
1151\begin{minted}{java}
1152tracematch (C c, X x) {
1153 sym m before:
1154 call(* X.m(C)) && args(c) && cflow(within(C));
1155 sym n before:
1156 call(* X.n()) && target(x) && cflow(within(C));
1157 sym setCx after:
1158 set(C.x) && target(c) && !cflow(m);
1159
1160 m n
1161
1162 { assert x == c.x; }
1163}
1164\end{minted}
1165
1166%\begin{minted}{java}
1167%tracematch (X x1, X x2) {
1168% sym m before:
1169% call(* X.m(C)) && target(x1);
1170% sym n before:
1171% call(* X.n()) && target(x2);
1172% sym setX after:
1173% set(C.x) && !cflow(m) && !cflow(n);
1174%
1175% m n
1176%
1177% { assert x1 != x2; }
1178%}
1179%\end{minted}
a13e5650 1180\end{comment}
116805bf 1181
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1182
1183\chapter{The Project}
1184
0e6e57d3 1185\section{Project description}
60065669 1186The aim of this master's project will be to explore the relationship between the
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1187\ExtractMethod and the \MoveMethod refactorings. This will be done by composing
1188the two into a composite refactoring. The refactoring will be called the
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1189\ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.
1190
1191The two primitive \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod refactorings must already be
1192implemented in a tool, so the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring is going to be
1193built on top of those.
b5d53f51 1194
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1195The composition of the \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod refactorings springs
1196naturally out of the need to move procedures closer to the data they manipulate.
1197This composed refactoring is not well described in the literature, but it is
1198implemented in at least one tool called
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1199\name{CodeRush}\footnote{\url{https://help.devexpress.com/\#CodeRush/CustomDocument3519}},
1200that is an extension for \name{MS Visual
b5d53f51 1201Studio}\footnote{\url{http://www.visualstudio.com/}}. In CodeRush it is called
fe0a4c48 1202\refa{Extract Method to
b5d53f51 1203Type}\footnote{\url{https://help.devexpress.com/\#CodeRush/CustomDocument6710}},
0e6e57d3 1204but I choose to call it \ExtractAndMoveMethod, since I feel this better
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1205communicates which primitive refactorings it is composed of.
1206
0fe1a611 1207The project will consist of implementing the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring,
0e6e57d3 1208as well as executing it over a larger code base, as a case study. To be able to
0fe1a611 1209execute the refactoring automatically, I have to make it analyze code to
0e6e57d3 1210determine the best selections to extract into new methods.
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1212\section{The primitive refactorings}
1213The refactorings presented here are the primitive refactorings used in this
1214project. They are the abstract building blocks used by the \ExtractAndMoveMethod
1215refactoring.
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1216
1217\subsection{The Extract Method refactoring}
1218The \refa{Extract Method} refactoring is used to extract a fragment of code
1219from its context and into a new method. A call to the new method is inlined
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1220where the fragment was before. It is used to break code into logical units, with
1221names that explain their purpose.
1222
1223An example of an \ExtractMethod refactoring is shown in
1224\myref{lst:extractMethodRefactoring}. It shows a method containing calls to the
1225methods \method{foo} and \method{bar} of a type \type{X}. These statements are
1226then extracted into the new method \method{fooBar}.
d516ac0b 1227
021508ad 1228\begin{listing}[h]
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1229 \begin{multicols}{2}
1230 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1231 // Before
1232 class C {
1233 void method() {
1234 X x = new X();
1235 x.foo(); x.bar();
1236 }
1237 }
1238 \end{minted}
1239
1240 \columnbreak
1241
1242 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1243 // After
1244 class C {
1245 void method() {
1246 X x = new X();
1247 fooBar(x);
1248 }
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1249 void fooBar(X x) {
1250 x.foo(); x.bar();
1251 }
1252 }
1253 \end{minted}
1254 \end{multicols}
1255 \caption{An example of an \ExtractMethod refactoring.}
1256 \label{lst:extractMethodRefactoring}
1257\end{listing}
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1258
1259\subsection{The Move Method refactoring}
1260The \refa{Move Method} refactoring is used to move a method from one class to
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1261another. This can be appropriate if the method is using more features of another
1262class than of the class which it is currently defined.
1263
1264\Myref{lst:moveMethodRefactoring} shows an example of this refactoring. Here a
1265method \method{fooBar} is moved from the class \type{C} to the class \type{X}.
1266
021508ad 1267\begin{listing}[h]
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1268 \begin{multicols}{2}
1269 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1270 // Before
1271 class C {
1272 void method() {
1273 X x = new X();
1274 fooBar(x);
1275 }
1276 void fooBar(X x) {
1277 x.foo(); x.bar();
1278 }
1279 }
1280
1281 class X {
1282 void foo(){/*...*/}
1283 void bar(){/*...*/}
1284 }
1285 \end{minted}
1286
1287 \columnbreak
1288
1289 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1290 // After
1291 class C {
1292 void method() {
1293 X x = new X();
1294 x.fooBar();
1295 }
1296 }
1297
1298 class X {
1299 void fooBar() {
1300 foo(); bar();
1301 }
1302 void foo(){/*...*/}
1303 void bar(){/*...*/}
1304 }
1305 \end{minted}
1306 \end{multicols}
1307 \caption{An example of a \MoveMethod refactoring.}
1308 \label{lst:moveMethodRefactoring}
1309\end{listing}
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1311\section{The Extract and Move Method refactoring}
1312The \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring is a composite refactoring composed of the
1313primitive \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod refactorings. The effect of this
1314refactoring on source code is the same as when extracting a method and moving it
1315to another class. Conseptually, this is done without an intermediate step. In
1316practice, as we shall see later, an intermediate step may be necessary.
1317
1318An example of this composite refactoring is shown in
1319\myref{lst:extractAndMoveMethodRefactoring}. The example joins the examples from
1320\cref{lst:extractMethodRefactoring} and \cref{lst:moveMethodRefactoring}. This
1321means that the selection consisting of the consecutive calls to the methods
1322\method{foo} and \method{bar}, is extracted into a new method \method{fooBar}
1323located in the class \type{X}.
1324
1325\begin{listing}[h]
1326 \begin{multicols}{2}
1327 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1328 // Before
1329 class C {
1330 void method() {
1331 X x = new X();
1332 x.foo(); x.bar();
1333 }
1334 }
1335
1336 class X {
1337 void foo(){/*...*/}
1338 void bar(){/*...*/}
1339 }
1340 \end{minted}
1341
1342 \columnbreak
1343
1344 \begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
1345 // After
1346 class C {
1347 void method() {
1348 X x = new X();
1349 x.fooBar();
1350 }
1351 }
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1353 class X {
1354 void fooBar() {
1355 foo(); bar();
1356 }
1357 void foo(){/*...*/}
1358 void bar(){/*...*/}
1359 }
1360 \end{minted}
1361 \end{multicols}
1362 \caption{An example of the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.}
1363 \label{lst:extractAndMoveMethodRefactoring}
1364\end{listing}
04e21f15 1365
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1366\section{Research questions}
1367The main question that I seek an answer to in this thesis is:
1368
1369\begin{quote}
1370 Is it possible to automate the analysis and execution of the
1371 \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring, and do so for all of the code of a larger
1372 project?
1373\end{quote}
1374
1375\noindent The secondary questions will then be:
1376
1377\paragraph{Can we do this efficiently?} Can we automate the analysis and
1378execution of the refactoring so it can be run in a reasonable amount of time?
1379And what does \emph{reasonable} mean in this context?
1380
1381And, assuming the refactoring does in fact improve the quality of source code:
1382
1383\paragraph{How can the automation of the refactoring be helpful?} What is the
1384usefullness of the refactoring in a software development setting? In what parts
1385of the development process can the refactoring play a role?
1386
3f929fcc 1387\section{Choosing the target language}
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1388Choosing which programming language the code that shall be manipulated shall be
1389written in, is not a very difficult task. We choose to limit the possible
1390languages to the object-oriented programming languages, since most of the
1391terminology and literature regarding refactoring comes from the world of
1392object-oriented programming. In addition, the language must have existing tool
1393support for refactoring.
1394
fe0a4c48 1395The \name{Java} programming language\footnote{\url{https://www.java.com/}} is
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1396the dominating language when it comes to example code in the literature of
1397refactoring, and is thus a natural choice. Java is perhaps, currently the most
fe0a4c48 1398influential programming language in the world, with its \name{Java Virtual
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1399Machine} that runs on all of the most popular architectures and also supports
1400dozens of other programming languages\footnote{They compile to java bytecode.},
fe0a4c48 1401with \name{Scala}, \name{Clojure} and \name{Groovy} as the most prominent ones.
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1402Java is currently the language that every other programming language is compared
1403against. It is also the primary programming language for the author of this
1404thesis.
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1405
1406\section{Choosing the tools}
3ab3e132 1407When choosing a tool for manipulating Java, there are certain criteria that
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1408have to be met. First of all, the tool should have some existing refactoring
1409support that this thesis can build upon. Secondly it should provide some kind of
1410framework for parsing and analyzing Java source code. Third, it should itself be
1411open source. This is both because of the need to be able to browse the code for
1412the existing refactorings that is contained in the tool, and also because open
1413source projects hold value in them selves. Another important aspect to consider
1414is that open source projects of a certain size, usually has large communities of
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1415people connected to them, that are committed to answering questions regarding the
1416use and misuse of the products, that to a large degree is made by the community
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1417itself.
1418
3ab3e132 1419There is a certain class of tools that meet these criteria, namely the class of
3f929fcc 1420\emph{IDEs}\footnote{\emph{Integrated Development Environment}}. These are
3ab3e132 1421programs that is meant to support the whole production cycle of a computer
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1422program, and the most popular IDEs that support Java, generally have quite good
1423refactoring support.
1424
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1425The main contenders for this thesis is the \name{Eclipse IDE}, with the
1426\name{Java development tools} (JDT), the \name{IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition}
1427and the \name{NetBeans IDE} \see{toolSupport}. \name{Eclipse} and
1428\name{NetBeans} are both free, open source and community driven, while the
1429\name{IntelliJ IDEA} has an open sourced community edition that is free of
1430charge, but also offer an \name{Ultimate Edition} with an extended set of
1431features, at additional cost. All three IDEs supports adding plugins to extend
1432their functionality and tools that can be used to parse and analyze Java source
1433code. But one of the IDEs stand out as a favorite, and that is the \name{Eclipse
1434IDE}. This is the most popular\citing{javaReport2011} among them and seems to be
1435de facto standard IDE for Java development regardless of platform.
4e135659 1436
a5317dcf 1437
c894b297 1438\chapter{Semantics}
46f52f52 1439\todoin{Rename chapter?}
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1440
1441\section{The inputs to the refactoring}
1442For executing an \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring, there are two simple
1443requirements. The first thing the refactoring need is a text selection, telling
1444it what to extract. Its second requirement is a target for the subsequent move
1445operation.
1446
1447The extracted method must be called instead of the selection that makes up its
1448body. Also, the method call has to be performed via a variable, since the method
1449is not static. \todo{Explain why static methods are not considered} Therefore,
1450the move target must be a variable in the scope of the extracted selection. The
1451actual new location for the extracted method will be the class representing the
1452type of the move target variable. But, since the method also must be called
1453through a variable, it makes sense to define the move target to be either a
1454local variable or a field in the scope of the text selection.
1455
1456\section{Finding a move target}
1457In the analysis needed to perform the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring
1458automatically, the selection we choose is found among all the selections that
1459has a possible move target. Therefore, the best possible move target must be
1460found for all the candidate selections, so that we are able to sort out the
1461selection that is best suited for the refactoring.
1462
1463To find the best move target for a specific text selection, we first need to
1464find all the possible targets. Since the target must be a local variable or a
1465field, we are basically looking for names within the selection; names that
1466represents references to variables.
1467
1468The names we are looking for, we call prefixes. This is because we are not
1469interested in names that occur in the middle of a dot-separated sequence of
1470names. We are only interested in names that constitutes prefixes of other names,
1471possibly themselves. The reason for this, is that two lexically equal names need
1472not be referencing the same variable, if they themselves are not referenced via
1473the same prefix. Consider the two method calls \code{a.x.foo()} and
1474\code{b.x.foo()}. Here, the two references to \code{x}, in the middle of the
1475qualified names both preceding \code{foo()}, are not referencing the same
1476variable. Even though the variables may share the type, and the method
1477\method{foo} thus is the same for both, we would not know through which of the
1478variables \var{a} or \var{b} we should call the extracted method.
1479
1480The possible move targets are then the prefixes that are not among a subset of
1481the prefixes that are not valid move targets \see{s:unfixes}. Also, prefixes
1482that are just simple names, and have only one occurrence, are left out. This is
1483because they are not going to have any positive effect on coupling between
1484classes.
1485
1486For finding the best move target among these safe prefixes, a simple heuristic
1487is used. It is as simple as choosing the prefix that is most frequently
1488referenced within the selection.
1489
1490\section{Unfixes}\label{s:unfixes}
1491The prefixes that are not valid as move targets are called unfixes.
1492
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1493An unfix can be a name that is assigned to within a selection. The reason that
1494this cannot be allowed, is that the result would be an assignment to the
1495\type{this} keyword, which is not valid in Java \see{eclipse_bug_420726}.
1496
1497Prefixes that originates from variable declarations within the same selection
1498are also considered unfixes. This is because when a method is moved, it needs to
1499be called through a variable. If this variable is also declared within the
1500method that is to be moved, this obviously cannot be done.
1501
1502Also considered as unfixes are variable references that are of types that are
1503not suitable for moving methods to. This can either be because it is not
1504physically possible to move a method to the desired class or that it will cause
1505compilation errors by doing so.
1506
1507If the type binding for a name is not resolved it is considered and unfix. The
1508same applies to types that is only found in compiled code, so they have no
1509underlying source that is accessible to us. (E.g. the \type{java.lang.String}
1510class.)
1511
1512Interfaces types are not suitable as targets. This is simply because interfaces
1513in Java cannot contain methods with bodies. (This thesis does not deal with
1514features of Java versions later than Java 7. Java 8 has interfaces with default
1515implementations of methods.)
1516
1517Neither are local types allowed. This accounts for both local and anonymous
1518classes. Anonymous classes are effectively the same as interface types with
1519respect to unfixes. Local classes could in theory be used as targets, but this
1520is not possible due to limitations of the way the \refa{Extract and Move Method}
1521refactoring has to be implemented. The problem is that the refactoring is done
1522in two steps, so the intermediate state between the two refactorings would not
1523be legal Java code. In the intermediate step for the case where a local class is
1524the move target, the extracted method would need to take the local class as a
1525parameter. This new method would need to live in the scope of the declaring
1526class of the originating method. The local class would then not be in the scope
1527of the extracted method, thus bringing the source code into an illegal state.
1528One could imagine that the method was extracted and moved in one operation,
1529without an intermediate state. Then it would make sense to include variables
1530with types of local classes in the set of legal targets, since the local classes
1531would then be in the scopes of the method calls. If this makes any difference
1532for software metrics that measure coupling would be a different discussion.
1533
1534\begin{listing}
1535\begin{multicols}{2}
1536\begin{minted}[]{java}
1537// Before
1538void declaresLocalClass() {
1539 class LocalClass {
1540 void foo() {}
1541 void bar() {}
1542 }
1543
1544 LocalClass inst =
1545 new LocalClass();
1546 inst.foo();
1547 inst.bar();
1548}
1549\end{minted}
1550
1551\columnbreak
1552
1553\begin{minted}[]{java}
1554// After Extract Method
1555void declaresLocalClass() {
1556 class LocalClass {
1557 void foo() {}
1558 void bar() {}
1559 }
1560
1561 LocalClass inst =
1562 new LocalClass();
1563 fooBar(inst);
1564}
1565
1566// Intermediate step
1567void fooBar(LocalClass inst) {
1568 inst.foo();
1569 inst.bar();
1570}
1571\end{minted}
1572\end{multicols}
1573\caption{When the \refa{Extract and Move Method} tries to use a variable with a
1574local type as the move target, an intermediate step is performed that is not
1575allowed. Here: \type{LocalClass} is not in the scope of \method{fooBar} in its
1576intermediate location.}
1577\label{lst:extractMethod_LocalClass}
1578\end{listing}
1579
1580The last class of names that are considered unfixes are names used in null
1581tests. These are tests that reads like this: if \texttt{<name>} equals
1582\var{null} then do something. If allowing variables used in those kinds of
1583expressions as targets for moving methods, we would end up with code containing
1584boolean expressions like \texttt{this == null}, which would not be meaningful,
1585since \var{this} would never be \var{null}.
1586
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1587\todoin{Describe what a text selection is?}
1588
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1589\section{Choosing the selection}
1590When choosing a selection between the text selections that have possible move
1591targets, the selections need to be ordered. The criteria below are presented in
1592the order they are prioritized. If not one selection is favored over the other
1593for a concrete criterion, the selections are evaluated by the next criterion.
1594
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1595\begin{enumerate}
1596 \item The first criterion that is evaluated is whether a selection contains
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1597 any unfixes or not. If selection \m{A} contains no unfixes, while
1598 selection \m{B} does, selection \m{A} is favored over selection
1599 \m{B}. This is done under the assumption that, if possible, avoiding
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1600 selections containing unfixes will make the code moved a little
1601 cleaner.\todoin{more arguments?}
1602
1603 \item The second criterion that is evaluated is how many possible targets a
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1604 selection contains. If selection \m{A} has only one possible target, and
1605 selection \m{B} has multiple, selection \m{A} is favored. If both
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1606 selections have multiple possible targets, they are considered equal with
1607 respect to this criterion. The rationale for this heuristic is that we would
1608 prefer not to introduce new couplings between classes when performing the
1609 \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.
1610
1611 \item When evaluating the last criterion, this is with the knowledge that
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1612 selection \m{A} and \m{B} both have one possible target. Then, if
1613 the move target candidate of selection \m{A} has a higher reference count
1614 than the target candidate of selection \m{B}, selection \m{A} is
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1615 favored. The reason for this is that we would like to move the selection that
1616 gets rid of the most references to another class.
1617
1618\end{enumerate}
1619
1620If none of the above mentioned criteria favors one selection over another, the
1621selections are considered to be equally good candidates for the
1622\ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.
c894b297 1623
0cc6a67d 1624\section{Disqualifying a selection}
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1625Certain text selections would lead to broken code if used as input to the
1626\ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring. To avoid this, we have to check all text
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1627selections for such conditions before they are further analyzed. This sections
1628is therefore going to present some properties that makes a selection unsuitable
1629for our refactoring.
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1630
1631\subsection{A call to a protected or package-private method}
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1632If a text selection contains a call to a protected or package-private method, it
1633would not be safe to move it to another class. The reason for this, is that we
1634cannot know if the called method is being overridden by some subclass of the
1635\gloss{enclosingClass}, or not.
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1636
1637Imagine that the protected method \method{foo} is declared in class \m{A},
1638and overridden in class \m{B}. The method \method{foo} is called from within a
1639selection done to a method in \m{A}. We want to extract and move this selection
1640to another class. The method \method{foo} is not public, so the \MoveMethod
1641refactoring must make it public, making the extracted method able to call it
1642from the extracted method's new location. The problem is that the, now public,
1643method \method{foo} is overridden in a subclass, where it has a protected
1644status. This makes the compiler complain that the subclass \m{B} is trying to
1645reduce the visibility of a method declared in its superclass \m{A}. This is not
21506154 1646allowed in Java, and for good reasons. It would make it possible to make a
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1647subclass that could not be a substitute for its superclass.
1648\todoin{Code example?}
1649
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1650The problem this check helps to avoid, is a little subtle. The problem does not
1651arise in the class where the change is done, but in a class derived from it.
1652This shows that classes acting as superclasses are especially fragile to
1653introducing errors in the context of automated refactoring. This is also shown
1654in bug\ldots \todoin{File Eclipse bug report}
1655
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1656\subsection{Instantiation of non-static inner class}
1657When a non-static inner class is instantiated, this must happen in the scope of
1658its declaring class. This is because it must have access to the members of the
1659declaring class. If the inner class is public, it is possible to instantiate it
1660through an instance of its declaring class, but this is not handled by the
1661underlying \MoveMethod refactoring.
1662
1663Performing a move on a method that instantiates a non-static inner class, will
1664break the code if the instantiation is not handled properly. For this reason,
1665selections that contains instantiations of non-static inner classes are deemed
1666unsuitable for the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.
1667
1668\subsection{References to enclosing instances of the enclosing class}
1669The title of this section may be a little hard to grasp at first. What it means
1670is that there is a (non-static) class \m{C} that is declared in the scope of
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1671possibly multiple other classes. And there is a statement in the body of a
1672method declared in class \m{C}, that contains a reference to one or more
1673instances of these enclosing classes of \m{C}.
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1674
1675The problem with this, is that these references may not be valid if they are
1676moved to another class. Theoretically, some situations could easily be solved by
1677passing, to the moved method, a reference to the instance where the problematic
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1678referenced member is declared. This should work in the case where this member is
1679publicly accessible. This is not done in the underlying \MoveMethod refactoring,
1680so it cannot be allowed in the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring either.
1c521a77 1681
15327961 1682\subsection{Inconsistent return statements}
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1683To verify that a text selection is consistent with respect to return statements,
1684we must check that if a selection contains a return statement, then every
1685possible execution path within the selection ends in either a return or a throw
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1686statement. This property is important regarding the \ExtractMethod refactoring.
1687If it holds, it means that a method could be extracted from the selection, and a
1688call to it could be substituted for the selection. If the method has a non-void
1689return type, then a call to it would also be a valid return point for the
1690calling method. If its return value is of the void type, then the \ExtractMethod
1691refactoring will append an empty return statement to the back of the method
1692call. Therefore, the analysis does not discriminate on either kinds of return
1693statements, with or without a return value.
1694
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1695A throw statement is accepted anywhere a return statement is required. This is
1696because a throw statement causes an immediate exit from the current block,
1697together with all outer blocks in its control flow that does not catch the
1698thrown exception.
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1699
1700Return statements can be either explicit or implicit. An \emph{explicit} return
1701statement is formed by using the \code{return} keyword, while an \emph{implicit}
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1702return statement is a statement that is not formed using \code{return}, but must
1703be the last statement of a method that can have any side effects. This can
1704happen in methods with a void return type. An example is a statement that is
15327961 1705inside one or more blocks. The last statement of a method could for instance be
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1706a synchronized statement, but the last statement that is executed in the method,
1707and that can have any side effects, may be located inside the body of the
1708synchronized statement.
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1709
1710We can start the check for this property by looking at the last statement of a
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1711selection to see if it is a return statement (explicit or implicit) or a throw
1712statement. If this is the case, then the property holds, assuming the selected
1713code does not contain any compilation errors. All execution paths within the
1714selection should end in either this, or another, return or throw statement.
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1715\todoin{State somewhere that we assume no compilation errors?}
1716
1717If the last statement of the selection is not a return or throw, the execution
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1718of it must eventually end in one for the selection to be legal. This means that
1719all branches of the last statement of every branch must end in a return or
1720throw. Given this recursive definition, there are only five types of statements
1721that are guaranteed to end in a return or throw if their child branches does.
1722All other statements would have to be considered illegal. The first three:
1723Block-statements, labeled statements and do-statements are all kinds of
1724fall-through statements that always gets their body executed. Do-statements
1725would not make much sense if written such that they
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1726always ends after the first round of execution of their body, but that is not
1727our concern. The remaining two statements that can end in a return or throw are
1728if-statements and try-statements.
1729
cb903a13 1730For an if-statement, the rule is that if its then-part does not contain any
d59e3ab7 1731return or throw statements, this is considered illegal. If the then-part does
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1732contain a return or throw, the else-part is checked. If its else-part is
1733non-existent, or it does not contain any return or throw statements, the
1734statement is considered illegal. If an if-statement is not considered illegal,
d59e3ab7 1735the bodies of its two parts must be checked.
15327961 1736
cb903a13
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1737Try-statements are handled much the same way as if-statements. The body of a
1738try-statement must contain a return or throw. The same applies to its catch
1739clauses and finally body.
1c521a77 1740
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1741\subsection{Ambiguous return values}
1742The problem with ambiguous return values arise when a selection is chosen to be
1743extracted into a new method, but it needs to return more than one value from
1744that method.
1745
1746This problem occurs in two situations. The first situation arise when there is
1747more than one local variable that is both assigned to within a selection and
1748also referenced after the selection. The other situation occur when there is
1749only one such assignment, but the selection also contain return statements.
1750
1751Therefore we must examine the selection for assignments to local variables that
1752are referenced after the text selection. Then we must verify that not more than
1753one such reference is done, or zero if any return statements are found.
1754
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1755\subsection{Illegal statements}
1756An illegal statement may be a statement that is of a type that is never allowed,
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1757or it may be a statement of a type that is only allowed if certain conditions
1758are true.
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1759
1760Any use of the \var{super} keyword is prohibited, since its meaning is altered
1761when moving a method to another class.
1762
1763For a \emph{break} statement, there are two situations to consider: A break
1764statement with or without a label. If the break statement has a label, it is
1765checked that whole of the labeled statement is inside the selection. If the
1766break statement does not have a label attached to it, it is checked that its
1767innermost enclosing loop or switch statement also is inside the selection.
1768
1769The situation for a \emph{continue} statement is the same as for a break
1770statement, except that it is not allowed inside switch statements.
1771
1772Regarding \emph{assignments}, two types of assignments are allowed: Assignments
1773to non-final variables and assignments to array access. All other assignments
1774are regarded illegal.
1775
1776\todoin{Expand with more illegal statements and/or conclude that I did not have
1777time to analyze all statements types.}
1778
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1779\subsection{Grand example}
1780\todoin{Change title?}
1781
1782\begin{listing}
1783 \begin{minted}[linenos]{java}
1784 public class C {
1785 public void foo() {
1786
1787 }
1788 }
1789
1790\end{minted}
1791\caption{The grand example}
1792\label{lst:grandExample}
1793\end{listing}
1794
1795
83f12332 1796
0cc6a67d 1797
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1798\chapter{Refactorings in Eclipse JDT: Design, Shortcomings and Wishful
1799Thinking}\label{ch:jdt_refactorings}
1800
1801This chapter will deal with some of the design behind refactoring support in
fe0a4c48 1802\name{Eclipse}, and the JDT in specific. After which it will follow a section about
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1803shortcomings of the refactoring API in terms of composition of refactorings. The
1804chapter will be concluded with a section telling some of the ways the
1805implementation of refactorings in the JDT could have worked to facilitate
1806composition of refactorings.
055dca93 1807
b0e80574 1808\section{Design}
fe0a4c48 1809The refactoring world of \name{Eclipse} can in general be separated into two parts: The
b289552b 1810language independent part and the part written for a specific programming
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1811language -- the language that is the target of the supported refactorings.
1812\todo{What about the language specific part?}
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1813
1814\subsection{The Language Toolkit}
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1815The Language Toolkit\footnote{The content of this section is a mixture of
1816 written material from
1817 \url{https://www.eclipse.org/articles/Article-LTK/ltk.html} and
1818 \url{http://www.eclipse.org/articles/article.php?file=Article-Unleashing-the-Power-of-Refactoring/index.html},
1819the LTK source code and my own memory.}, or LTK for short, is the framework that
fe0a4c48 1820is used to implement refactorings in \name{Eclipse}. It is language independent and
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1821provides the abstractions of a refactoring and the change it generates, in the
1822form of the classes \typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Refactoring}
1823and \typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Change}.
1824
1825There are also parts of the LTK that is concerned with user interaction, but
1826they will not be discussed here, since they are of little value to us and our
1827use of the framework. We are primarily interested in the parts that can be
1828automated.
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1829
1830\subsubsection{The Refactoring Class}
1831The abstract class \type{Refactoring} is the core of the LTK framework. Every
1832refactoring that is going to be supported by the LTK have to end up creating an
1833instance of one of its subclasses. The main responsibilities of subclasses of
1834\type{Refactoring} is to implement template methods for condition checking
1835(\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{checkInitialConditions}
1836and
1837\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{checkFinalConditions}),
1838in addition to the
1839\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{createChange}
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1840method that creates and returns an instance of the \type{Change} class.
1841
1842If the refactoring shall support that others participate in it when it is
1843executed, the refactoring has to be a processor-based
1844refactoring\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.ProcessorBasedRefactoring}.
1845It then delegates to its given
1846\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{RefactoringProcessor}
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1847for condition checking and change creation. Participating in a refactoring can
1848be useful in cases where the changes done to programming source code affects
1849other related resources in the workspace. This can be names or paths in
1850configuration files, or maybe one would like to perform additional logging of
1851changes done in the workspace.
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1852
1853\subsubsection{The Change Class}
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1854This class is the base class for objects that is responsible for performing the
1855actual workspace transformations in a refactoring. The main responsibilities for
1856its subclasses is to implement the
1857\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change}{perform} and
1858\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change}{isValid} methods. The
1859\method{isValid} method verifies that the change object is valid and thus can be
1860executed by calling its \method{perform} method. The \method{perform} method
1861performs the desired change and returns an undo change that can be executed to
1862reverse the effect of the transformation done by its originating change object.
1863
61420ef7 1864\subsubsection{Executing a Refactoring}\label{executing_refactoring}
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1865The life cycle of a refactoring generally follows two steps after creation:
1866condition checking and change creation. By letting the refactoring object be
1867handled by a
1868\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{CheckConditionsOperation} that
1869in turn is handled by a
1870\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{CreateChangeOperation}, it is
1871assured that the change creation process is managed in a proper manner.
1872
1873The actual execution of a change object has to follow a detailed life cycle.
1874This life cycle is honored if the \type{CreateChangeOperation} is handled by a
1875\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{PerformChangeOperation}. If also
1876an undo manager\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager} is set
1877for the \type{PerformChangeOperation}, the undo change is added into the undo
1878history.
055dca93 1879
b0e80574 1880\section{Shortcomings}
80663734 1881This section is introduced naturally with a conclusion: The JDT refactoring
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1882implementation does not facilitate composition of refactorings.
1883\todo{refine}This section will try to explain why, and also identify other
1884shortcomings of both the usability and the readability of the JDT refactoring
1885source code.
80663734
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1886
1887I will begin at the end and work my way toward the composition part of this
1888section.
1889
5837a41f 1890\subsection{Absence of Generics in Eclipse Source Code}
80663734 1891This section is not only concerning the JDT refactoring API, but also large
fe0a4c48 1892quantities of the \name{Eclipse} source code. The code shows a striking absence of the
80663734 1893Java language feature of generics. It is hard to read a class' interface when
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1894methods return objects or takes parameters of raw types such as \type{List} or
1895\type{Map}. This sometimes results in having to read a lot of source code to
1896understand what is going on, instead of relying on the available interfaces. In
1897addition, it results in a lot of ugly code, making the use of typecasting more
1898of a rule than an exception.
1899
1900\subsection{Composite Refactorings Will Not Appear as Atomic Actions}
1901
1902\subsubsection{Missing Flexibility from JDT Refactorings}
1903The JDT refactorings are not made with composition of refactorings in mind. When
1904a JDT refactoring is executed, it assumes that all conditions for it to be
1326eec6 1905applied successfully can be found by reading source files that have been
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1906persisted to disk. They can only operate on the actual source material, and not
1907(in-memory) copies thereof. This constitutes a major disadvantage when trying to
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1908compose refactorings, since if an exception occurs in the middle of a sequence
1909of refactorings, it can leave the project in a state where the composite
1910refactoring was only partially executed. It makes it hard to discard the changes
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1911done without monitoring and consulting the undo manager, an approach that is not
1912bullet proof.
1913
1914\subsubsection{Broken Undo History}
1915When designing a composed refactoring that is to be performed as a sequence of
1916refactorings, you would like it to appear as a single change to the workspace.
1917This implies that you would also like to be able to undo all the changes done by
1918the refactoring in a single step. This is not the way it appears when a sequence
1919of JDT refactorings is executed. It leaves the undo history filled up with
1920individual undo actions corresponding to every single JDT refactoring in the
fe0a4c48 1921sequence. This problem is not trivial to handle in \name{Eclipse}
e123ab03 1922\see{hacking_undo_history}.
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1923
1924\section{Wishful Thinking}
3727b75b 1925\todoin{???}
80663734 1926
a7514fbd 1927
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1928\chapter{Composite Refactorings in Eclipse}
1929
1930\section{A Simple Ad Hoc Model}
fe0a4c48 1931As pointed out in \myref{ch:jdt_refactorings}, the \name{Eclipse} JDT refactoring model
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1932is not very well suited for making composite refactorings. Therefore a simple
1933model using changer objects (of type \type{RefaktorChanger}) is used as an
fe0a4c48 1934abstraction layer on top of the existing \name{Eclipse} refactorings, instead of
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1935extending the \typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Refactoring} class.
1936
1937The use of an additional abstraction layer is a deliberate choice. It is due to
1938the problem of creating a composite
1939\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Change} that can handle text
1940changes that interfere with each other. Thus, a \type{RefaktorChanger} may, or
1941may not, take advantage of one or more existing refactorings, but it is always
1942intended to make a change to the workspace.
1943
1944\subsection{A typical \type{RefaktorChanger}}
1945The typical refaktor changer class has two responsibilities, checking
1946preconditions and executing the requested changes. This is not too different
1947from the responsibilities of an LTK refactoring, with the distinction that a
1948refaktor changer also executes the change, while an LTK refactoring is only
1949responsible for creating the object that can later be used to do the job.
1950
1951Checking of preconditions is typically done by an
1952\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{Analyzer}. If the
1953preconditions validate, the upcoming changes are executed by an
1954\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{Executor}.
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1955
1956\section{The Extract and Move Method Refactoring}
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1957%The Extract and Move Method Refactoring is implemented mainly using these
1958%classes:
1959%\begin{itemize}
1960% \item \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
1961% \item \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodPrefixesExtractor}
1962% \item \type{Prefix}
1963% \item \type{PrefixSet}
1964%\end{itemize}
1965
1966\subsection{The Building Blocks}
1967This is a composite refactoring, and hence is built up using several primitive
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1968refactorings. These basic building blocks are, as its name implies, the
1969\ExtractMethod refactoring\citing{refactoring} and the \MoveMethod
fe0a4c48 1970refactoring\citing{refactoring}. In \name{Eclipse}, the implementations of these
b5c7bb1b 1971refactorings are found in the classes
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1972\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.code}{ExtractMethodRefactoring}
1973and
1974\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.structure}{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor},
1975where the last class is designed to be used together with the processor-based
1976\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{MoveRefactoring}.
1977
1978\subsubsection{The ExtractMethodRefactoring Class}
1979This class is quite simple in its use. The only parameters it requires for
1980construction is a compilation
1981unit\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.ICompilationUnit}, the offset into the source
1982code where the extraction shall start, and the length of the source to be
1983extracted. Then you have to set the method name for the new method together with
50954fde 1984its visibility and some not so interesting parameters.
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1985
1986\subsubsection{The MoveInstanceMethodProcessor Class}
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1987For the \refa{Move Method}, the processor requires a little more advanced input than
1988the class for the \refa{Extract Method}. For construction it requires a method
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1989handle\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.IMethod} for the method that is to be moved.
1990Then the target for the move have to be supplied as the variable binding from a
1991chosen variable declaration. In addition to this, one have to set some
1992parameters regarding setters/getters, as well as delegation.
61420ef7 1993
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1994To make a working refactoring from the processor, one have to create a
1995\type{MoveRefactoring} with it.
b0e80574 1996
356782a0 1997\subsection{The ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
50954fde 1998
61420ef7 1999The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.changers}{ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
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2000class is a subclass of the class
2001\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.changers}{RefaktorChanger}. It is responsible
2002for analyzing and finding the best target for, and also executing, a composition
fe0a4c48 2003of the \refa{Extract Method} and \refa{Move Method} refactorings. This particular changer is
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2004the one of my changers that is closest to being a true LTK refactoring. It can
2005be reworked to be one if the problems with overlapping changes are resolved. The
2006changer requires a text selection and the name of the new method, or else a
2007method name will be generated. The selection has to be of the type
2008\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils}{CompilationUnitTextSelection}. This
2009class is a custom extension to
2010\typewithref{org.eclipse.jface.text}{TextSelection}, that in addition to the
2011basic offset, length and similar methods, also carry an instance of the
2012underlying compilation unit handle for the selection.
2013
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2014\subsubsection{The
2015 \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}}\label{extractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}
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2016The analysis and precondition checking is done by the
2017\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{ExtractAnd\-MoveMethodAnalyzer}.
2018First is check whether the selection is a valid selection or not, with respect
2019to statement boundaries and that it actually contains any selections. Then it
2020checks the legality of both extracting the selection and also moving it to
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2021another class. This checking of is performed by a range of checkers
2022\see{checkers}. If the selection is approved as legal, it is analyzed to find
2023the presumably best target to move the extracted method to.
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2024
2025For finding the best suitable target the analyzer is using a
2026\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{PrefixesCollector} that
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2027collects all the possible candidate targets for the refactoring. All the
2028non-candidates is found by an
50954fde 2029\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{UnfixesCollector} that
b8fce5af 2030collects all the targets that will give some kind of error if used. (For
3ab3e132 2031details about the property collectors, see \myref{propertyCollectors}.) All
b8fce5af 2032prefixes (and unfixes) are represented by a
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2033\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors}{Prefix}, and they are collected
2034into sets of prefixes. The safe prefixes is found by subtracting from the set of
b8fce5af 2035candidate prefixes the prefixes that is enclosing any of the unfixes. A prefix
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2036is enclosing an unfix if the unfix is in the set of its sub-prefixes. As an
2037example, \texttt{``a.b''} is enclosing \texttt{``a''}, as is \texttt{``a''}. The
2038safe prefixes is unified in a \type{PrefixSet}. If a prefix has only one
2039occurrence, and is a simple expression, it is considered unsuitable as a move
2040target. This occurs in statements such as \texttt{``a.foo()''}. For such
2041statements it bares no meaning to extract and move them. It only generates an
2042extra method and the calling of it.
50954fde 2043
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2044The most suitable target for the refactoring is found by finding the prefix with
2045the most occurrences. If two prefixes have the same occurrence count, but they
2046differ in length, the longest of them is chosen.
2047
0f6e45f8 2048\todoin{Clean up sections/subsections.}
50954fde 2049
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2050\subsubsection{The
2051 \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor}}\label{extractAndMoveMethodExecutor}
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2052If the analysis finds a possible target for the composite refactoring, it is
2053executed by an
2054\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor}.
2055It is composed of the two executors known as
2056\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{ExtractMethodRefactoringExecutor}
2057and
2058\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{MoveMethodRefactoringExecutor}.
2059The \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor} is responsible for gluing the two
3727b75b 2060together by feeding the \type{MoveMethod\-RefactoringExecutor} with the
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2061resources needed after executing the extract method refactoring.
2062%\see{postExtractExecution}.
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2063
2064\subsubsection{The \type{ExtractMethodRefactoringExecutor}}
2065This executor is responsible for creating and executing an instance of the
2066\type{ExtractMethodRefactoring} class. It is also responsible for collecting
2067some post execution resources that can be used to find the method handle for the
2068extracted method, as well as information about its parameters, including the
2069variable they originated from.
2070
2071\subsubsection{The \type{MoveMethodRefactoringExecutor}}
2072This executor is responsible for creating and executing an instance of the
2073\type{MoveRefactoring}. The move refactoring is a processor-based refactoring,
fe0a4c48 2074and for the \refa{Move Method} refactoring it is the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor}
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2075that is used.
2076
2077The handle for the method to be moved is found on the basis of the information
fe0a4c48 2078gathered after the execution of the \refa{Extract Method} refactoring. The only
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2079information the \type{ExtractMethodRefactoring} is sharing after its execution,
2080regarding find the method handle, is the textual representation of the new
2081method signature. Therefore it must be parsed, the strings for types of the
2082parameters must be found and translated to a form that can be used to look up
2083the method handle from its type handle. They have to be on the unresolved
2084form.\todo{Elaborate?} The name for the type is found from the original
2085selection, since an extracted method must end up in the same type as the
2086originating method.
2087
fe0a4c48 2088When analyzing a selection prior to performing the \refa{Extract Method} refactoring, a
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2089target is chosen. It has to be a variable binding, so it is either a field or a
2090local variable/parameter. If the target is a field, it can be used with the
2091\type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} as it is, since the extracted method still is
2092in its scope. But if the target is local to the originating method, the target
2093that is to be used for the processor must be among its parameters. Thus the
2094target must be found among the extracted method's parameters. This is done by
2095finding the parameter information object that corresponds to the parameter that
2096was declared on basis of the original target's variable when the method was
2097extracted. (The extracted method must take one such parameter for each local
2098variable that is declared outside the selection that is extracted.) To match the
2099original target with the correct parameter information object, the key for the
2100information object is compared to the key from the original target's binding.
2101The source code must then be parsed to find the method declaration for the
2102extracted method. The new target must be found by searching through the
2103parameters of the declaration and choose the one that has the same type as the
2104old binding from the parameter information object, as well as the same name that
2105is provided by the parameter information object.
2106
2107
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2108\subsection{The
2109SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}\label{searchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
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2110The
2111\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.changers}{SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
2112is a changer whose purpose is to automatically analyze a method, and execute the
2113\ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring on it if it is a suitable candidate for the
2114refactoring.
2115
2116First, the \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer} is used
2117to analyze the method. If the method is found to be a candidate, the result from
2118the analysis is fed to the \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor}, whose job is to
2119execute the refactoring \see{extractAndMoveMethodExecutor}.
2120
2121\subsubsection{The SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}
2122This analyzer is responsible for analyzing all the possible text selections of a
2123method and then choose the best result out of the analysis results that is, by
2124the analyzer, considered to be the potential candidates for the Extract and Move
2125Method refactoring.
2126
2127Before the analyzer is able to work with the text selections of a method, it
2128needs to generate them. To do this, it parses the method to obtain a
2129\type{MethodDeclaration} for it \see{astEclipse}. Then there is a statement
2130lists creator that creates statements lists of the different groups of
2131statements in the body of the method declaration. A text selections generator
2132generates text selections of all the statement lists for the analyzer to work
2133with.
2134
2135\paragraph{The statement lists creator}
2136is responsible for generating lists of statements for all the possible levels of
2137statements in the method. The statement lists creator is implemented as an AST
2138visitor \see{astVisitor}. It generates lists of statements by visiting all the
2139blocks in the method declaration and stores their statements in a collection of
2140statement lists. In addition, it visits all of the other statements that can
2141have a statement as a child, such as the different control structures and the
2142labeled statement.
2143
2144The switch statement is the only kind of statement that is not straight forward
2145to obtain the child statements from. It stores all of its children in a flat
2146list. Its switch case statements are included in this list. This means that
2147there are potential statement lists between all of these case statements. The
2148list of statements from a switch statement is therefore traversed, and the
2149statements between the case statements are grouped as separate lists.
2150
2151There is an example of how the statement lists creator would generate lists for
2152a simple method in \myref{lst:statementListsExample}.
2153
2154\begin{listing}[h]
2155\def\charwidth{5.7pt}
2156\def\indent{4*\charwidth}
2157\def\lineheight{\baselineskip}
2158\def\mintedtop{\lineheight}
2159
2160\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay, yscale=-1]
2161 \tikzstyle{overlaybox}=[fill=lightgray,opacity=0.2]
2162 \draw[overlaybox] (0,\mintedtop+\lineheight) rectangle
2163 +(22*\charwidth,10*\lineheight);
2164 \draw[overlaybox] (\indent,\mintedtop+2*\lineheight) rectangle
2165 +(13*\charwidth,\lineheight);
2166 \draw[overlaybox] (2*\indent,\mintedtop+6*\lineheight) rectangle
2167 +(13*\charwidth,2*\lineheight);
2168 \draw[overlaybox] (2*\indent,\mintedtop+9*\lineheight) rectangle
2169 +(13*\charwidth,\lineheight);
2170\end{tikzpicture}
2171\begin{minted}{java}
2172void method() {
2173 if (bool)
2174 b.bar();
2175
2176 switch (val) {
2177 case 1:
2178 b.foo();
2179 c.foo();
2180 default:
2181 c.foo();
2182 }
2183}
2184\end{minted}
2185\caption{Example of how the statement lists creator would group a simple method
2186into lists of statements. Each highlighted rectangle represents a list.}
2187\label{lst:statementListsExample}
2188\end{listing}
2189
2190\paragraph{The text selections generator} generates text selections for each
2191list of statements from the statement lists creator. Conceptually, the generator
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2192generates a text selection for every possible ordered \todo{make clearer}
2193combination of statements in a list. For a list of statements, the boundary
2194statements span out a text selection. This means that there are many different
2195lists that could span out the same selection.
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2196
2197In practice, the text selections are calculated by only one traversal of the
2198statement list. There is a set of generated text selections. For each statement,
2199there is created a temporary set of selections, in addition to a text selection
2200based on the offset and length of the statement. This text selection is added to
2201the temporary set. Then the new selection is added with every selection from the
2202set of generated text selections. These new selections are added to the
2203temporary set. Then the temporary set of selections is added to the set of
2204generated text selections. The result of adding two text selections is a new
2205text selection spanned out by the two addends.
2206
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2207\begin{listing}[h]
2208\def\charwidth{5.7pt}
2209\def\indent{4*\charwidth}
2210\def\lineheight{\baselineskip}
2211\def\mintedtop{\lineheight}
2212
2213\begin{tikzpicture}[overlay, yscale=-1]
2214 \tikzstyle{overlaybox}=[fill=lightgray,opacity=0.2]
2215
2216 \draw[overlaybox] (2*\charwidth,\mintedtop) rectangle
2217 +(18*\charwidth,\lineheight);
2218
2219 \draw[overlaybox] (2*\charwidth,\mintedtop+\lineheight) rectangle
2220 +(18*\charwidth,\lineheight);
2221
2222 \draw[overlaybox] (2*\charwidth,\mintedtop+3*\lineheight) rectangle
2223 +(18*\charwidth,\lineheight);
2224
2225 \draw[overlaybox] (\indent-3*\charwidth,\mintedtop) rectangle
2226 +(20*\charwidth,2*\lineheight);
2227
2228 \draw[overlaybox] (3*\charwidth,\mintedtop+\lineheight) rectangle
2229 +(16*\charwidth,3*\lineheight);
2230
2231 \draw[overlaybox] (\indent,\mintedtop) rectangle
2232 +(14*\charwidth,4*\lineheight);
2233\end{tikzpicture}
2234\begin{minted}{java}
2235 statement one;
2236 statement two;
2237 ...
2238 statement k;
2239\end{minted}
2240\caption{Example of how the text selections generator would generate text
2241 selections based on a lists of statements. Each highlighted rectangle
2242represents a text selection.}
2243\label{lst:textSelectionsExample}
2244\end{listing}
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2245\todoin{fix \myref{lst:textSelectionsExample}? Text only? All
2246sub-sequences\ldots}
0fa64de5 2247
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2248\paragraph{Finding the candidate} for the refactoring is done by analyzing all
2249the generated text selection with the \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}
2250\see{extractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}. If the analyzer generates a useful result,
2251an \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodCandidate} is created from it, that is kept in a
2252list of potential candidates. If no candidates are found, the
2253\type{NoTargetFoundException} is thrown.
2254
2255Since only one of the candidates can be chosen, the analyzer must sort out which
2256candidate to choose. The sorting is done by the static \method{sort} method of
2257\type{Collections}. The comparison in this sorting is done by an
2258\type{ExtractAndMoveMethodCandidateComparator}.
2259\todoin{Write about the
2260ExtractAndMoveMethodCandidateComparator/FavorNoUnfixesCandidateComparator}
2261
2262\paragraph{The complexity} of how many text selections that needs to be analyzed
2263for a total of $n$ statements is bounded by $O(n^2)$.
2264
3471cd15 2265\begin{theorem}
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2266The number of text selections that need to be analyzed for each list of
2267statements of length $n$, is exactly
2268
3471cd15 2269\begin{equation*}
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2270 \sum_{i=1}^{n} i = \frac{n(n+1)}{2}
2271 \label{eq:complexityStatementList}
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2272\end{equation*}
2273\label{thm:numberOfTextSelection}
2274\end{theorem}
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2275
2276\begin{proof}
2277 For $n=1$ this is trivial: $\frac{1(1+1)}{2} = \frac{2}{2} = 1$. One statement
2278 equals one selection.
2279
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2280 For $n=2$, you get one text selection for the first statement, one selection
2281 for the second statement, and one selection for the two of them combined.
2282 This equals three selections. $\frac{2(2+1)}{2} = \frac{6}{2} = 3$.
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2283
2284 For $n=3$, you get 3 selections for the two first statements, as in the case
2285 where $n=2$. In addition you get one selection for the third statement itself,
2286 and two more statements for the combinations of it with the two previous
2287 statements. This equals six selections. $\frac{3(3+1)}{2} = \frac{12}{2} = 6$.
2288
2289 Assume that for $n=k$ there exists $\frac{k(k+1)}{2}$ text selections. Then we
2290 want to add selections for another statement, following the previous $k$
2291 statements. So, for $n=k+1$, we get one additional selection for the statement
2292 itself. Then we get one selection for each pair of the new selection and the
2293 previous $k$ statements. So the total number of selections will be the number
2294 of already generated selections, plus $k$ for every pair, plus one for the
2295 statement itself: $\frac{k(k+1)}{2} + k +
2296 1 = \frac{k(k+1)+2k+2}{2} = \frac{k(k+1)+2(k+1)}{2} = \frac{(k+1)(k+2)}{2} =
2297 \frac{(k+1)((k+1)+1)}{2} = \sum_{i=1}^{k+1} i$
2298\end{proof}
2299
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2300%\definition{A \emph{body of statements} is a sequence of statements where every
2301%statement may have sub-statements.}
2302\todoin{Define ``body of statements''?}
2303
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2304\begin{theorem}
2305 The number of text selections for a body of statements is maximized if all the
2306 statements are at the same level.
2307 \label{thm:textSelectionsMaximized}
2308\end{theorem}
2309
2310\begin{proof}
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2311 Assume we have a body of, in total, $k$ statements. Then, the sum of the
2312 lengths of all the lists of statements in the body, is also $k$. Let
0cc6a67d 2313 $\{l,\ldots,m,(k-l-\ldots-m)\}$ be the lengths of the lists of statements in
13e6337f 2314 the body, with $l+\ldots+m<k \Rightarrow \forall i \in \{l,\ldots,m\} : i < k$.
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2315
2316 Then, the number of text selections that are generated for the $k$ statements
2317 is
2318
2319 {
2320 \small
2321 \begin{align*}
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2322 \frac{l(l+1)}{2} + \ldots + \frac{m(m+1)}{2} +
2323 \frac{(k-l-\ldots-m)((k-l-\ldots-m)+ 1)}{2} = \\
2324 \frac{l^2+l}{2} + \ldots + \frac{m^2+m}{2} + \frac{k^2 - 2kl - \ldots - 2km +
2325 l^2 + \ldots + m^2 + k - l - \ldots - m}{2} = \\
2326 \frac{2l^2 - 2kl + \ldots + 2m^2 - 2km + k^2 + k}{2}
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2327 \end{align*}
2328 }
2329
0cc6a67d 2330 \noindent It then remains to show that this inequality holds:
3471cd15
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2331
2332 \begin{align*}
13e6337f 2333 \frac{2l^2 - 2kl + \ldots + 2m^2 - 2km + k^2 + k}{2} < \frac{k(k+1)}{2} =
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2334 \frac{k^2 + k}{2}
2335 \end{align*}
2336
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2337 \noindent By multiplication by $2$ on both sides, and by removing the equal
2338 parts, we get
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2339
2340 \begin{align*}
0cc6a67d 2341 2l^2 - 2kl + \ldots + 2m^2 - 2km < 0
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2342 \end{align*}
2343
13e6337f
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2344 Since $\forall i \in \{l,\ldots,m\} : i < k$, we have that $\forall i \in
2345 \{l,\ldots,m\} : 2ki > 2i^2$, so all the pairs of parts on the form $2i^2-2ki$
2346 are negative. In sum, the inequality holds.
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2347
2348\end{proof}
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2349
2350Therefore, the complexity for the number of selections that needs to be analyzed
3471cd15 2351for a body of $n$ statements is $O\bigl(\frac{n(n+1)}{2}\bigr) = O(n^2)$.
c8088eec 2352
356782a0 2353
222d172b 2354\begin{comment}
50954fde 2355\subsection{Finding the IMethod}\label{postExtractExecution}
356782a0 2356\todoin{Rename section. Write??}
222d172b 2357\end{comment}
61420ef7 2358
61420ef7 2359
b0e80574 2360\subsection{The Prefix Class}
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2361This class exists mainly for holding data about a prefix, such as the expression
2362that the prefix represents and the occurrence count of the prefix within a
2363selection. In addition to this, it has some functionality such as calculating
2364its sub-prefixes and intersecting it with another prefix. The definition of the
2365intersection between two prefixes is a prefix representing the longest common
2366expression between the two.
2367
b0e80574 2368\subsection{The PrefixSet Class}
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2369A prefix set holds elements of type \type{Prefix}. It is implemented with the
2370help of a \typewithref{java.util}{HashMap} and contains some typical set
2371operations, but it does not implement the \typewithref{java.util}{Set}
2372interface, since the prefix set does not need all of the functionality a
2373\type{Set} requires to be implemented. In addition It needs some other
2374functionality not found in the \type{Set} interface. So due to the relatively
2375limited use of prefix sets, and that it almost always needs to be referenced as
2376such, and not a \type{Set<Prefix>}, it remains as an ad hoc solution to a
2377concrete problem.
2378
2379There are two ways adding prefixes to a \type{PrefixSet}. The first is through
2380its \method{add} method. This works like one would expect from a set. It adds
2381the prefix to the set if it does not already contain the prefix. The other way
2382is to \emph{register} the prefix with the set. When registering a prefix, if the
2383set does not contain the prefix, it is just added. If the set contains the
2384prefix, its count gets incremented. This is how the occurrence count is handled.
2385
2386The prefix set also computes the set of prefixes that is not enclosing any
2387prefixes of another set. This is kind of a set difference operation only for
2388enclosing prefixes.
b0e80574 2389
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2390\subsection{Hacking the Refactoring Undo
2391History}\label{hacking_undo_history}
a6415293 2392\todoin{Where to put this section?}
8fae7b44
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2393
2394As an attempt to make multiple subsequent changes to the workspace appear as a
2395single action (i.e. make the undo changes appear as such), I tried to alter
2396the undo changes\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change} in the history
2397of the refactorings.
2398
2399My first impulse was to remove the, in this case, last two undo changes from the
f041551b 2400undo manager\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager} for the
fe0a4c48 2401\name{Eclipse} refactorings, and then add them to a composite
8fae7b44
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2402change\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.CompositeChange} that could be
2403added back to the manager. The interface of the undo manager does not offer a
2404way to remove/pop the last added undo change, so a possible solution could be to
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2405decorate\citing{designPatterns} the undo manager, to intercept and collect the
2406undo changes before delegating to the \method{addUndo}
f041551b 2407method\methodref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager}{addUndo} of the
8fae7b44
EK
2408manager. Instead of giving it the intended undo change, a null change could be
2409given to prevent it from making any changes if run. Then one could let the
2410collected undo changes form a composite change to be added to the manager.
2411
2412There is a technical challenge with this approach, and it relates to the undo
2413manager, and the concrete implementation
94fc7e71
EK
2414\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.internal.core.refactoring}{UndoManager2}. This
2415implementation is designed in a way that it is not possible to just add an undo
2416change, you have to do it in the context of an active
8fae7b44
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2417operation\typeref{org.eclipse.core.commands.operations.TriggeredOperations}.
2418One could imagine that it might be possible to trick the undo manager into
2419believing that you are doing a real change, by executing a refactoring that is
2420returning a kind of null change that is returning our composite change of undo
94fc7e71 2421refactorings when it is performed. But this is not the way to go.
8fae7b44
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2422
2423Apart from the technical problems with this solution, there is a functional
2424problem: If it all had worked out as planned, this would leave the undo history
2425in a dirty state, with multiple empty undo operations corresponding to each of
2426the sequentially executed refactoring operations, followed by a composite undo
2427change corresponding to an empty change of the workspace for rounding of our
2428composite refactoring. The solution to this particular problem could be to
2429intercept the registration of the intermediate changes in the undo manager, and
2430only register the last empty change.
2431
2432Unfortunately, not everything works as desired with this solution. The grouping
2433of the undo changes into the composite change does not make the undo operation
2434appear as an atomic operation. The undo operation is still split up into
2435separate undo actions, corresponding to the change done by its originating
2436refactoring. And in addition, the undo actions has to be performed separate in
2437all the editors involved. This makes it no solution at all, but a step toward
2438something worse.
2439
2440There might be a solution to this problem, but it remains to be found. The
2441design of the refactoring undo management is partly to be blamed for this, as it
2442it is to complex to be easily manipulated.
2443
b0e80574 2444
0d7fbd88 2445
2f2080fb 2446
03674629 2447\chapter{Analyzing Source Code in Eclipse}
5308274d 2448
356782a0 2449\section{The Java model}\label{javaModel}
fe0a4c48 2450The Java model of \name{Eclipse} is its internal representation of a Java project. It
5308274d 2451is light-weight, and has only limited possibilities for manipulating source
fe0a4c48 2452code. It is typically used as a basis for the Package Explorer in \name{Eclipse}.
5308274d
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2453
2454The elements of the Java model is only handles to the underlying elements. This
2455means that the underlying element of a handle does not need to actually exist.
2456Hence the user of a handle must always check that it exist by calling the
2457\method{exists} method of the handle.
2458
356782a0 2459The handles with descriptions is listed in \myref{tab:javaModel}.
4e468834
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2460
2461\begin{table}[h]
2462 \centering
2463
2464 \newcolumntype{L}[1]{>{\hsize=#1\hsize\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}%
2465 % sum must equal number of columns (3)
2466 \begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{| L{0.7} | L{1.1} | L{1.2} |}
2467 \hline
2468 \textbf{Project Element} & \textbf{Java Model element} &
2469 \textbf{Description} \\
2470 \hline
2471 Java project & \type{IJavaProject} & The Java project which contains all other objects. \\
2472 \hline
2473 Source folder /\linebreak[2] binary folder /\linebreak[3] external library &
2474 \type{IPackageFragmentRoot} & Hold source or binary files, can be a folder
2475 or a library (zip / jar file). \\
2476 \hline
2477 Each package & \type{IPackageFragment} & Each package is below the
2478 \type{IPackageFragmentRoot}, sub-packages are not leaves of the package,
2479 they are listed directed under \type{IPackageFragmentRoot}. \\
2480 \hline
2481 Java Source file & \type{ICompilationUnit} & The Source file is always below
2482 the package node. \\
2483 \hline
2484 Types /\linebreak[2] Fields /\linebreak[3] Methods & \type{IType} /
2485 \linebreak[0]
2486 \type{IField} /\linebreak[3] \type{IMethod} & Types, fields and methods. \\
2487 \hline
2488 \end{tabularx}
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2489 \caption{The elements of the Java Model. {\footnotesize Taken from
2490 \url{http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/EclipseJDT/article.html}}}
356782a0 2491 \label{tab:javaModel}
4e468834
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2492\end{table}
2493
2494The hierarchy of the Java Model is shown in \myref{fig:javaModel}.
2495
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2496\begin{figure}[h]
2497 \centering
2498 \begin{tikzpicture}[%
2499 grow via three points={one child at (0,-0.7) and
2500 two children at (0,-0.7) and (0,-1.4)},
2501 edge from parent path={(\tikzparentnode.south west)+(0.5,0) |-
2502 (\tikzchildnode.west)}]
2503 \tikzstyle{every node}=[draw=black,thick,anchor=west]
2504 \tikzstyle{selected}=[draw=red,fill=red!30]
2505 \tikzstyle{optional}=[dashed,fill=gray!50]
2506 \node {\type{IJavaProject}}
2507 child { node {\type{IPackageFragmentRoot}}
2508 child { node {\type{IPackageFragment}}
2509 child { node {\type{ICompilationUnit}}
2510 child { node {\type{IType}}
2511 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}
2512 child { node {\type{\ldots}}}
2513 }
2514 child [missing] {}
2515 child { node {\type{\{ IField \}*}}}
2516 child { node {\type{IMethod}}
2517 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}
2518 child { node {\type{\ldots}}}
2519 }
2520 }
2521 child [missing] {}
2522 child [missing] {}
2523 child { node {\type{\{ IMethod \}*}}}
2524 }
2525 child [missing] {}
2526 child [missing] {}
2527 child [missing] {}
2528 child [missing] {}
2529 child [missing] {}
2530 child [missing] {}
2531 child [missing] {}
2532 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}}
2533 }
2534 child [missing] {}
2535 child [missing] {}
2536 child [missing] {}
2537 child [missing] {}
2538 child [missing] {}
2539 child [missing] {}
2540 child [missing] {}
2541 child [missing] {}
2542 child [missing] {}
2543 child { node {\type{\{ ICompilationUnit \}*}}}
2544 }
2545 child [missing] {}
2546 child [missing] {}
2547 child [missing] {}
2548 child [missing] {}
2549 child [missing] {}
2550 child [missing] {}
2551 child [missing] {}
2552 child [missing] {}
2553 child [missing] {}
2554 child [missing] {}
2555 child [missing] {}
2556 child { node {\type{\{ IPackageFragment \}*}}}
2557 }
2558 child [missing] {}
2559 child [missing] {}
2560 child [missing] {}
2561 child [missing] {}
2562 child [missing] {}
2563 child [missing] {}
2564 child [missing] {}
2565 child [missing] {}
2566 child [missing] {}
2567 child [missing] {}
2568 child [missing] {}
2569 child [missing] {}
2570 child [missing] {}
2571 child { node {\type{\{ IPackageFragmentRoot \}*}}}
2572 ;
2573 \end{tikzpicture}
fe0a4c48 2574 \caption{The Java model of \name{Eclipse}. ``\type{\{ SomeElement \}*}'' means
5308274d
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2575 \type{SomeElement} zero or more times. For recursive structures,
2576 ``\type{\ldots}'' is used.}
2577 \label{fig:javaModel}
2578\end{figure}
2579
3ab3e132 2580\section{The Abstract Syntax Tree}
fe0a4c48 2581\name{Eclipse} is following the common paradigm of using an abstract syntax tree for
03674629
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2582source code analysis and manipulation.
2583
03674629
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2584When parsing program source code into something that can be used as a foundation
2585for analysis, the start of the process follows the same steps as in a compiler.
3ab3e132 2586This is all natural, because the way a compiler analyzes code is no different
03674629
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2587from how source manipulation programs would do it, except for some properties of
2588code that is analyzed in the parser, and that they may be differing in what
4e468834 2589kinds of properties they analyze. Thus the process of translation source code
03674629 2590into a structure that is suitable for analyzing, can be seen as a kind of
65e213db
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2591interrupted compilation process \see{fig:interruptedCompilationProcess}.
2592
2593\begin{figure}[h]
2594 \centering
2595 \tikzset{
c876d1a4 2596 base/.style={anchor=north, align=center, rectangle, minimum height=1.4cm},
65e213db 2597 basewithshadow/.style={base, drop shadow, fill=white},
c876d1a4
EK
2598 outlined/.style={basewithshadow, draw, rounded corners, minimum
2599 width=0.4cm},
2600 primary/.style={outlined, font=\bfseries},
65e213db 2601 dashedbox/.style={outlined, dashed},
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EK
2602 arrowpath/.style={black, align=center, font=\small},
2603 processarrow/.style={arrowpath, ->, >=angle 90, shorten >=1pt},
65e213db 2604 }
62563950 2605 \begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1.3cm and 3cm, scale=1, every
c876d1a4 2606 node/.style={transform shape}]
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2607 \node[base](AuxNode1){\small source code};
2608 \node[primary, right=of AuxNode1, xshift=-2.5cm](Scanner){Scanner};
c876d1a4 2609 \node[primary, right=of Scanner, xshift=0.5cm](Parser){Parser};
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2610 \node[dashedbox, below=of Parser](SemanticAnalyzer){Semantic\\Analyzer};
2611 \node[dashedbox, left=of SemanticAnalyzer](SourceCodeOptimizer){Source
2612 Code\\Optimizer};
2613 \node[dashedbox, below=of SourceCodeOptimizer
c876d1a4 2614 ](CodeGenerator){Code\\Generator};
72e039dc
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2615 \node[dashedbox, right=of CodeGenerator](TargetCodeOptimizer){Target
2616 Code\\Optimizer};
2617 \node[base, right=of TargetCodeOptimizer](AuxNode2){};
c876d1a4 2618
62563950
EK
2619 \draw[processarrow](AuxNode1) -- (Scanner);
2620
2621 \path[arrowpath] (Scanner) -- node [sloped](tokens){tokens}(Parser);
2622 \draw[processarrow](Scanner) -- (tokens) -- (Parser);
2623
2624 \path[arrowpath] (Parser) -- node (syntax){syntax
2625 tree}(SemanticAnalyzer);
2626 \draw[processarrow](Parser) -- (syntax) -- (SemanticAnalyzer);
2627
2628 \path[arrowpath] (SemanticAnalyzer) -- node
2629 [sloped](annotated){annotated\\tree}(SourceCodeOptimizer);
2630 \draw[processarrow, dashed](SemanticAnalyzer) -- (annotated) --
2631 (SourceCodeOptimizer);
2632
2633 \path[arrowpath] (SourceCodeOptimizer) -- node
2634 (intermediate){intermediate code}(CodeGenerator);
2635 \draw[processarrow, dashed](SourceCodeOptimizer) -- (intermediate) --
2636 (CodeGenerator);
2637
2638 \path[arrowpath] (CodeGenerator) -- node [sloped](target1){target
c876d1a4 2639 code}(TargetCodeOptimizer);
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EK
2640 \draw[processarrow, dashed](CodeGenerator) -- (target1) --
2641 (TargetCodeOptimizer);
2642
2643 \path[arrowpath](TargetCodeOptimizer) -- node [sloped](target2){target
c876d1a4 2644 code}(AuxNode2);
62563950 2645 \draw[processarrow, dashed](TargetCodeOptimizer) -- (target2) (AuxNode2);
65e213db 2646 \end{tikzpicture}
72e039dc 2647 \caption{Interrupted compilation process. {\footnotesize (Full compilation
52da2102
EK
2648 process borrowed from \emph{Compiler construction: principles and practice}
2649 by Kenneth C. Louden\citing{louden1997}.)}}
65e213db
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2650 \label{fig:interruptedCompilationProcess}
2651\end{figure}
2652
03674629
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2653The process starts with a \emph{scanner}, or lexer. The job of the scanner is to
2654read the source code and divide it into tokens for the parser. Therefore, it is
2655also sometimes called a tokenizer. A token is a logical unit, defined in the
2656language specification, consisting of one or more consecutive characters. In
3ab3e132 2657the Java language the tokens can for instance be the \var{this} keyword, a curly
03674629 2658bracket \var{\{} or a \var{nameToken}. It is recognized by the scanner on the
3ab3e132 2659basis of something equivalent of a regular expression. This part of the process
03674629
EK
2660is often implemented with the use of a finite automata. In fact, it is common to
2661specify the tokens in regular expressions, that in turn is translated into a
2662finite automata lexer. This process can be automated.
2663
3ab3e132 2664The program component used to translate a stream of tokens into something
03674629
EK
2665meaningful, is called a parser. A parser is fed tokens from the scanner and
2666performs an analysis of the structure of a program. It verifies that the syntax
2667is correct according to the grammar rules of a language, that is usually
2668specified in a context-free grammar, and often in a variant of the
fe0a4c48 2669\name{Backus--Naur
03674629
EK
2670Form}\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backus-Naur\_Form}}. The
2671result coming from the parser is in the form of an \emph{Abstract Syntax Tree},
2672AST for short. It is called \emph{abstract}, because the structure does not
2673contain all of the tokens produced by the scanner. It only contain logical
2674constructs, and because it forms a tree, all kinds of parentheses and brackets
2675are implicit in the structure. It is this AST that is used when performing the
2676semantic analysis of the code.
2677
2678As an example we can think of the expression \code{(5 + 7) * 2}. The root of
fe0a4c48 2679this tree would in \name{Eclipse} be an \type{InfixExpression} with the operator
d11bcf4d
EK
2680\var{TIMES}, and a left operand that is also an \type{InfixExpression} with the
2681operator \var{PLUS}. The left operand \type{InfixExpression}, has in turn a left
2682operand of type \type{NumberLiteral} with the value \var{``5''} and a right
2683operand \type{NumberLiteral} with the value \var{``7''}. The root will have a
2684right operand of type \type{NumberLiteral} and value \var{``2''}. The AST for
2685this expression is illustrated in \myref{fig:astInfixExpression}.
2686
3ab3e132
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2687Contrary to the Java Model, an abstract syntax tree is a heavy-weight
2688representation of source code. It contains information about properties like
2689type bindings for variables and variable bindings for names.
4e468834
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2690
2691
d11bcf4d
EK
2692\begin{figure}[h]
2693 \centering
a1d68d95 2694 \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.8]
894dce0d 2695 \tikzset{level distance=40pt}
a1d68d95
EK
2696 \tikzset{sibling distance=5pt}
2697 \tikzstyle{thescale}=[scale=0.8]
2698 \tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center}}
d11bcf4d 2699 \tikzset{edge from parent/.append style={thick}}
a1d68d95
EK
2700 \tikzstyle{inode}=[rectangle,rounded corners,draw,fill=lightgray,drop
2701 shadow,align=center]
2702 \tikzset{every internal node/.style={inode}}
894dce0d 2703 \tikzset{every leaf node/.style={draw=none,fill=none}}
d11bcf4d 2704
894dce0d
EK
2705 \Tree [.\type{InfixExpression} [.\type{InfixExpression}
2706 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``5''} ] [.\type{Operator} \var{PLUS} ]
2707 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``7''} ] ]
d11bcf4d
EK
2708 [.\type{Operator} \var{TIMES} ]
2709 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``2''} ]
2710 ]
2711 \end{tikzpicture}
894dce0d 2712 \caption{The abstract syntax tree for the expression \code{(5 + 7) * 2}.}
d11bcf4d
EK
2713 \label{fig:astInfixExpression}
2714\end{figure}
03674629 2715
c8088eec 2716\subsection{The AST in Eclipse}\label{astEclipse}
fe0a4c48 2717In \name{Eclipse}, every node in the AST is a child of the abstract superclass
03674629
EK
2718\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{ASTNode}. Every \type{ASTNode}, among a
2719lot of other things, provides information about its position and length in the
2720source code, as well as a reference to its parent and to the root of the tree.
2721
2722The root of the AST is always of type \type{CompilationUnit}. It is not the same
2723as an instance of an \type{ICompilationUnit}, which is the compilation unit
894dce0d 2724handle of the Java model. The children of a \type{CompilationUnit} is an
03674629
EK
2725optional \type{PackageDeclaration}, zero or more nodes of type
2726\type{ImportDecaration} and all its top-level type declarations that has node
2727types \type{AbstractTypeDeclaration}.
2728
2729An \type{AbstractType\-Declaration} can be one of the types
2730\type{AnnotationType\-Declaration}, \type{Enum\-Declaration} or
2731\type{Type\-Declaration}. The children of an \type{AbstractType\-Declaration}
2732must be a subtype of a \type{BodyDeclaration}. These subtypes are:
2733\type{AnnotationTypeMember\-Declaration}, \type{EnumConstant\-Declaration},
2734\type{Field\-Declaration}, \type{Initializer} and \type{Method\-Declaration}.
2735
2736Of the body declarations, the \type{Method\-Declaration} is the most interesting
2737one. Its children include lists of modifiers, type parameters, parameters and
2738exceptions. It has a return type node and a body node. The body, if present, is
2739of type \type{Block}. A \type{Block} is itself a \type{Statement}, and its
2740children is a list of \type{Statement} nodes.
2741
2742There are too many types of the abstract type \type{Statement} to list up, but
2743there exists a subtype of \type{Statement} for every statement type of Java, as
2744one would expect. This also applies to the abstract type \type{Expression}.
2745However, the expression \type{Name} is a little special, since it is both used
2746as an operand in compound expressions, as well as for names in type declarations
2747and such.
2748
fe0a4c48 2749There is an overview of some of the structure of an \name{Eclipse} AST in
94deee9e
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2750\myref{fig:astEclipse}.
2751
e8173df5
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2752\begin{figure}[h]
2753 \centering
5e5908eb 2754 \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.8]
0f918507
EK
2755 \tikzset{level distance=50pt}
2756 \tikzset{sibling distance=5pt}
5e5908eb 2757 \tikzstyle{thescale}=[scale=0.8]
e8173df5 2758 \tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center}}
5e5908eb
EK
2759 \tikzset{edge from parent/.append style={thick}}
2760 \tikzstyle{inode}=[rectangle,rounded corners,draw,fill=lightgray,drop
2761 shadow,align=center]
2762 \tikzset{every internal node/.style={inode}}
e8173df5
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2763 \tikzset{every leaf node/.style={draw=none,fill=none}}
2764
e601ce99
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2765 \Tree [.\type{CompilationUnit} [.\type{[ PackageDeclaration ]} [.\type{Name} ]
2766 [.\type{\{ Annotation \}*} ] ]
2767 [.\type{\{ ImportDeclaration \}*} [.\type{Name} ] ]
0f918507 2768 [.\type{\{ AbstractTypeDeclaration \}+} [.\node(site){\type{\{
e601ce99 2769 BodyDeclaration \}*}}; ] [.\type{SimpleName} ] ]
e8173df5 2770 ]
e601ce99 2771 \begin{scope}[shift={(0.5,-6)}]
5e5908eb 2772 \node[inode,thescale](root){\type{MethodDeclaration}};
e601ce99 2773 \node[inode,thescale](modifiers) at (4.5,-5){\type{\{ IExtendedModifier \}*}
5e5908eb 2774 \\ {\footnotesize (Of type \type{Modifier} or \type{Annotation})}};
e601ce99 2775 \node[inode,thescale](typeParameters) at (-6,-3.5){\type{\{ TypeParameter
5e5908eb 2776 \}*}};
fbeec228 2777 \node[inode,thescale](parameters) at (-5,-5){\type{\{
5e5908eb 2778 SingleVariableDeclaration \}*} \\ {\footnotesize (Parameters)}};
e601ce99 2779 \node[inode,thescale](exceptions) at (5,-3){\type{\{ Name \}*} \\
5e5908eb 2780 {\footnotesize (Exceptions)}};
e601ce99 2781 \node[inode,thescale](return) at (-6.5,-2){\type{Type} \\ {\footnotesize
5e5908eb 2782 (Return type)}};
e601ce99
EK
2783 \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-5)}]
2784 \Tree [.\node(body){\type{[ Block ]} \\ {\footnotesize (Body)}};
2785 [.\type{\{ Statement \}*} [.\type{\{ Expression \}*} ]
2786 [.\type{\{ Statement \}*} [.\type{\ldots} ]]
2787 ]
2788 ]
2789 \end{scope}
0f918507 2790 \end{scope}
e601ce99
EK
2791 \draw[->,>=triangle 90,shorten >=1pt](root.east)..controls +(east:2) and
2792 +(south:1)..(site.south);
0f918507 2793
5e5908eb
EK
2794 \draw (root.south) -- (modifiers);
2795 \draw (root.south) -- (typeParameters);
2796 \draw (root.south) -- ($ (parameters.north) + (2,0) $);
2797 \draw (root.south) -- (exceptions);
2798 \draw (root.south) -- (return);
2799 \draw (root.south) -- (body);
2800
e8173df5 2801 \end{tikzpicture}
fe0a4c48 2802 \caption{The format of the abstract syntax tree in \name{Eclipse}.}
e8173df5
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2803 \label{fig:astEclipse}
2804\end{figure}
94deee9e 2805\todoin{Add more to the AST format tree? \myref{fig:astEclipse}}
a2868580 2806
b8fce5af 2807\section{The ASTVisitor}\label{astVisitor}
3ab3e132
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2808So far, the only thing that has been addressed is how the data that is going to
2809be the basis for our analysis is structured. Another aspect of it is how we are
2810going to traverse the AST to gather the information we need, so we can conclude
2811about the properties we are analysing. It is of course possible to start at the
2812top of the tree, and manually search through its nodes for the ones we are
2813looking for, but that is a bit inconvenient. To be able to efficiently utilize
2814such an approach, we would need to make our own framework for traversing the
2815tree and visiting only the types of nodes we are after. Luckily, this
fe0a4c48 2816functionality is already provided in \name{Eclipse}, by its
50976f51
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2817\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{ASTVisitor}.
2818
fe0a4c48
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2819The \name{Eclipse} AST, together with its \type{ASTVisitor}, follows the
2820\pattern{Visitor} pattern\citing{designPatterns}. The intent of this design
2821pattern is to facilitate extending the functionality of classes without touching
2822the classes themselves.
0a8ca90c 2823
fe0a4c48
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2824Let us say that there is a class hierarchy of elements. These elements all have
2825a method \method{accept(Visitor visitor)}. In its simplest form, the
0a8ca90c
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2826\method{accept} method just calls the \method{visit} method of the visitor with
2827itself as an argument, like this: \code{visitor.visit(this)}. For the visitors
2828to be able to extend the functionality of all the classes in the elements
2829hierarchy, each \type{Visitor} must have one visit method for each concrete
2830class in the hierarchy. Say the hierarchy consists of the concrete classes
2831\type{ConcreteElementA} and \type{ConcreteElementB}. Then each visitor must have
2832the (possibly empty) methods \method{visit(ConcreteElementA element)} and
2833\method{visit(ConcreteElementB element)}. This scenario is depicted in
2834\myref{fig:visitorPattern}.
50976f51 2835
3572a8ac
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2836\begin{figure}[h]
2837 \centering
2838 \tikzstyle{abstract}=[rectangle, draw=black, fill=white, drop shadow, text
2839 centered, anchor=north, text=black, text width=6cm, every one node
2840part/.style={align=center, font=\bfseries\itshape}]
2841 \tikzstyle{concrete}=[rectangle, draw=black, fill=white, drop shadow, text
2842 centered, anchor=north, text=black, text width=6cm]
2843 \tikzstyle{inheritarrow}=[->, >=open triangle 90, thick]
2844 \tikzstyle{commentarrow}=[->, >=angle 90, dashed]
2845 \tikzstyle{line}=[-, thick]
2846 \tikzset{every one node part/.style={align=center, font=\bfseries}}
2847 \tikzset{every second node part/.style={align=center, font=\ttfamily}}
3572a8ac
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2848
2849 \begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1cm, scale=0.8, every node/.style={transform
2850 shape}]
2851 \node (Element) [abstract, rectangle split, rectangle split parts=2]
2852 {
2853 \nodepart{one}{Element}
2854 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2855 };
2856 \node (AuxNode01) [text width=0, minimum height=2cm, below=of Element] {};
2857 \node (ConcreteElementA) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2858 parts=2, left=of AuxNode01]
2859 {
2860 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteElementA}
2861 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2862 };
2863 \node (ConcreteElementB) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2864 parts=2, right=of AuxNode01]
2865 {
2866 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteElementB}
2867 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2868 };
2869
2870 \node[comment, below=of ConcreteElementA] (CommentA) {visitor.visit(this)};
2871
2872 \node[comment, below=of ConcreteElementB] (CommentB) {visitor.visit(this)};
2873
2874 \node (AuxNodeX) [text width=0, minimum height=1cm, below=of AuxNode01] {};
2875
2876 \node (Visitor) [abstract, rectangle split, rectangle split parts=2,
2877 below=of AuxNodeX]
2878 {
2879 \nodepart{one}{Visitor}
2880 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2881 };
2882 \node (AuxNode02) [text width=0, minimum height=2cm, below=of Visitor] {};
2883 \node (ConcreteVisitor1) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2884 parts=2, left=of AuxNode02]
2885 {
2886 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteVisitor1}
2887 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2888 };
2889 \node (ConcreteVisitor2) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2890 parts=2, right=of AuxNode02]
2891 {
2892 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteVisitor2}
2893 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2894 };
2895
2896
2897 \draw[inheritarrow] (ConcreteElementA.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2898 (Element.south);
2899 \draw[line] (ConcreteElementA.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2900 (ConcreteElementB.north);
2901
2902 \draw[inheritarrow] (ConcreteVisitor1.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2903 (Visitor.south);
2904 \draw[line] (ConcreteVisitor1.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2905 (ConcreteVisitor2.north);
2906
2907 \draw[commentarrow] (CommentA.north) -- (ConcreteElementA.south);
2908 \draw[commentarrow] (CommentB.north) -- (ConcreteElementB.south);
2909
2910
2911 \end{tikzpicture}
2912 \caption{The Visitor Pattern.}
2913 \label{fig:visitorPattern}
2914\end{figure}
2915
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2916The use of the visitor pattern can be appropriate when the hierarchy of elements
2917is mostly stable, but the family of operations over its elements is constantly
fe0a4c48 2918growing. This is clearly the case for the \name{Eclipse} AST, since the hierarchy of
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2919type \type{ASTNode} is very stable, but the functionality of its elements is
2920extended every time someone needs to operate on the AST. Another aspect of the
fe0a4c48 2921\name{Eclipse} implementation is that it is a public API, and the visitor pattern is an
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2922easy way to provide access to the nodes in the tree.
2923
fe0a4c48 2924The version of the visitor pattern implemented for the AST nodes in \name{Eclipse} also
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2925provides an elegant way to traverse the tree. It does so by following the
2926convention that every node in the tree first let the visitor visit itself,
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2927before it also makes all its children accept the visitor. The children are only
2928visited if the visit method of their parent returns \var{true}. This pattern
2929then makes for a prefix traversal of the AST. If postfix traversal is desired,
2930the visitors also has \method{endVisit} methods for each node type, that is
2931called after the \method{visit} method for a node. In addition to these visit
2932methods, there are also the methods \method{preVisit(ASTNode)},
2933\method{postVisit(ASTNode)} and \method{preVisit2(ASTNode)}. The
2934\method{preVisit} method is called before the type-specific \method{visit}
2935method. The \method{postVisit} method is called after the type-specific
2936\method{endVisit}. The type specific \method{visit} is only called if
2937\method{preVisit2} returns \var{true}. Overriding the \method{preVisit2} is also
2938altering the behavior of \method{preVisit}, since the default implementation is
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2939responsible for calling it.
2940
2941An example of a trivial \type{ASTVisitor} is shown in
2942\myref{lst:astVisitorExample}.
2943
2944\begin{listing}
2945\begin{minted}{java}
2946public class CollectNamesVisitor extends ASTVisitor {
2947 Collection<Name> names = new LinkedList<Name>();
2948
2949 @Override
2950 public boolean visit(QualifiedName node) {
2951 names.add(node);
2952 return false;
2953 }
2954
2955 @Override
2956 public boolean visit(SimpleName node) {
2957 names.add(node);
2958 return true;
2959 }
2960}
2961\end{minted}
2962\caption{An \type{ASTVisitor} that visits all the names in a subtree and adds
2963them to a collection, except those names that are children of any
2964\type{QualifiedName}.}
2965\label{lst:astVisitorExample}
2966\end{listing}
2967
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2968\section{Property collectors}\label{propertyCollectors}
2969The prefixes and unfixes are found by property
2970collectors\typeref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors.PropertyCollector}.
2971A property collector is of the \type{ASTVisitor} type, and thus visits nodes of
2972type \type{ASTNode} of the abstract syntax tree \see{astVisitor}.
2973
2974\subsection{The PrefixesCollector}
2975The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors}{PrefixesCollector}
ccd252c5 2976finds prefixes that makes up the basis for calculating move targets for the
fe0a4c48 2977\refa{Extract and Move Method} refactoring. It visits expression
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2978statements\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom.ExpressionStatement} and creates
2979prefixes from its expressions in the case of method invocations. The prefixes
2980found is registered with a prefix set, together with all its sub-prefixes.
2981
2982\subsection{The UnfixesCollector}\label{unfixes}
2983The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors}{UnfixesCollector}
47c0bea8 2984finds unfixes within a selection.
5230243c 2985\todoin{Give more technical detail?}
b8fce5af 2986
b8fce5af 2987
0a8ca90c 2988
5195bf0c 2989\subsection{The ContainsReturnStatementCollector}
21506154 2990\todoin{Remove section?}
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2991The
2992\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{ContainsReturnStatementCollector}
2993is a very simple property collector. It only visits the return statements within
2994a selection, and can report whether it encountered a return statement or not.
2995
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2996\subsection{The LastStatementCollector}
2997The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{LastStatementCollector}
2998collects the last statement of a selection. It does so by only visiting the top
2999level statements of the selection, and compares the textual end offset of each
3ab3e132 3000encountered statement with the end offset of the previous statement found.
b8d069e4 3001
95c0f364 3002\section{Checkers}\label{checkers}
801ff00a 3003\todoin{Check out ExtractMethodAnalyzer from ExtractMethodRefactoring}
d6f8e65a
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3004The checkers are a range of classes that checks that text selections complies
3005with certain criteria. All checkers operates under the assumption that the code
3006they check is free from compilation errors. If a
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3007\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{Checker} fails, it throws a
3008\type{CheckerException}. The checkers are managed by the
3009\type{LegalStatementsChecker}, which does not, in fact, implement the
3010\type{Checker} interface. It does, however, run all the checkers registered with
3011it, and reports that all statements are considered legal if no
08cbba3b 3012\type{CheckerException} is thrown. Many of the checkers either extends the
f72f72f1 3013\type{PropertyCollector} or utilizes one or more property collectors to verify
3ab3e132 3014some criteria. The checkers registered with the \type{LegalStatementsChecker}
f72f72f1 3015are described next. They are run in the order presented below.
95c0f364 3016
a22915d0 3017\subsection{The CallToProtectedOrPackagePrivateMethodChecker}
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3018This checker is used to check that at selection does not contain a call to a
3019method that is protected or package-private. Such a method either has the access
3020modifier \code{protected} or it has no access modifier.
a22915d0 3021
21506154
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3022The workings of the \type{CallToProtectedOrPackagePrivateMethod\-Checker} is
3023very simple. It looks for calls to methods that are either protected or
3024package-private within the selection, and throws an
3025\type{IllegalExpressionFoundException} if one is found.
a22915d0 3026
2a4b8dea 3027\subsection{The InstantiationOfNonStaticInnerClassChecker}
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3028The \type{InstantiationOfNonStaticInnerClassChecker} checks that selections
3029does not contain instantiations of non-static inner classes. The
3030\type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} in Eclipse does not handle such
3031instantiations gracefully when moving a method. This problem is also related to
3032bug\ldots \todoin{File Eclipse bug report}
2a4b8dea 3033
8d0caf4c 3034\subsection{The EnclosingInstanceReferenceChecker}
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3035The purpose of this checker is to verify that the names in a text selection are
3036not referencing any enclosing instances. In theory, the underlying problem could
3037be solved in some situations, but our dependency on the
8d0caf4c
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3038\type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} prevents this.
3039
3040The
3041\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{EnclosingInstanceReferenceChecker}
3042is a modified version of the
801ff00a 3043\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.structure.MoveInstanceMethod\-Processor}{EnclosingInstanceReferenceFinder}
8d0caf4c 3044from the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor}. Wherever the
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3045\type{EnclosingInstanceReferenceFinder} would create a fatal error status, the
3046checker will throw a \type{CheckerException}.
3047
3048The checker works by first finding all of the enclosing types of a selection.
3049Thereafter, it visits all the simple names of the selection to check that they
3050are not references to variables or methods declared in any of the enclosing
3051types. In addition, the checker visits \var{this}-expressions to verify that no
3052such expressions are qualified with any name.
8d0caf4c 3053
9cc2cd59 3054\subsection{The ReturnStatementsChecker}\label{returnStatementsChecker}
d59e3ab7
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3055The checker for return statements is meant to verify that a text selection is
3056consistent regarding return statements.
3057
3058If the selection is free from return statements, then the checker validates. So
3059this is the first thing the checker investigates.
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3060
3061If the checker proceedes any further, it is because the selection contains one
3062or more return statements. The next test is therefore to check if the last
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3063statement of the selection ends in either a return or a throw statement. The
3064responsibility for checking that the last statement of the selection eventually
3065ends in a return or throw statement, is put on the
801ff00a 3066\type{LastStatementOfSelectionEndsInReturnOrThrowChecker}. For every node
d59e3ab7 3067visited, if the node is a statement, it does a test to see if the statement is a
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3068return, a throw or if it is an implicit return statement. If this is the case,
3069no further checking is done. This checking is done in the \code{preVisit2}
3070method \see{astVisitor}. If the node is not of a type that is being handled by
d59e3ab7 3071its type-specific visit method, the checker performs a simple test. If the node
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3072being visited is not the last statement of its parent that is also enclosed by
3073the selection, an \type{IllegalStatementFoundException} is thrown. This ensures
3074that all statements are taken care of, one way or the other. It also ensures
3075that the checker is conservative in the way it checks for legality of the
3076selection.
3077
3078To examine if a statement is an implicit return statement, the checker first
3079finds the last statement declared in its enclosing method. If this statement is
3080the same as the one under investigation, it is considered an implicit return
3081statement. If the statements are not the same, the checker does a search to see
d59e3ab7 3082if the statement examined is also the last statement of the method that can be
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3083reached. This includes the last statement of a block statement, a labeled
3084statement, a synchronized statement or a try statement, that in turn is the last
d59e3ab7
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3085statement enclosed by one of the statement types listed. This search goes
3086through all the parents of a statement until a statement is found that is not
3087one of the mentioned acceptable parent statements. If the search ends in a
3088method declaration, then the statement is considered to be the last reachable
3089statement of the method, and thus it is an implicit return statement.
3090
3091There are two kinds of statements that are handled explicitly: If-statements and
3092try-statements. Block, labeled and do-statements are handled by fall-through to
3093the other two.
3094
3095If-statements are handled explicitly by overriding their type-specific visit
3096method. If the then-part does not contain any return or throw statements an
3097\type{IllegalStatementFoundException} is thrown. If it does contain a return or
801ff00a 3098throw, its else-part is checked. If the else-part is non-existent, or it does
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3099not contain any return or throw statements an exception is thrown. If no
3100exception is thrown while visiting the if-statement, its children are visited.
801ff00a 3101
d59e3ab7 3102A try-statement is checked very similar to an if-statement. Its body must
801ff00a 3103contain a return or throw. The same applies to its catch clauses and finally
d59e3ab7 3104body. Failure to validate produces an \type{IllegalStatementFoundException}.
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3105
3106If the checker does not complain at any point, the selection is considered valid
3107with respect to return statements.
41cde50e
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3108
3109\subsection{The AmbiguousReturnValueChecker}
5230243c 3110This checker verifies that there are no ambiguous return values in a selection.
9cc2cd59 3111
5230243c 3112First, the checker needs to collect some data. Those data are the binding keys
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3113for all simple names that are assigned to within the selection, including
3114variable declarations, but excluding fields. The checker also collects whether
3115there exists a return statement in the selection or not. No further checks of
3116return statements are needed, since, at this point, the selection is already
3117checked for illegal return statements \see{returnStatementsChecker}.
3118
3119After the binding keys of the assignees are collected, the checker searches the
3120part of the enclosing method that is after the selection for references whose
3ab3e132
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3121binding keys are among the collected keys. If more than one unique referral is
3122found, or only one referral is found, but the selection also contains a return
3123statement, we have a situation with an ambiguous return value, and an exception
3124is thrown.
9cc2cd59
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3125
3126%\todoin{Explain why we do not need to consider variables assigned inside
3127%local/anonymous classes. (The referenced variables need to be final and so
3128%on\ldots)}
41cde50e
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3129
3130\subsection{The IllegalStatementsChecker}
3131This checker is designed to check for illegal statements.
3132
8fa89d14
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3133Notice that labels in break and continue statements needs some special
3134treatment. Since a label does not have any binding information, we have to
3135search upwards in the AST to find the \type{LabeledStatement} that corresponds
3136to the label from the break or continue statement, and check that it is
3137contained in the selection. If the break or continue statement does not have a
3138label attached to it, it is checked that its innermost enclosing loop or switch
3139statement (break statements only) also is contained in the selection.
08cbba3b 3140
8fa89d14 3141\todoin{Follow the development in the semantics section\ldots}
41cde50e 3142
356782a0
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3143
3144\chapter{Benchmarking}
3145\todoin{Better name than ``benchmarking''?}
60065669 3146This part of the master's project is located in the \name{Eclipse} project
356782a0
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3147\code{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.benchmark}. The purpose of it is to run the equivalent
3148of the \type{SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
3149\see{searchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodChanger} over a larger software project,
3ab3e132 3150both to test its robustness but also its effect on different software metrics.
356782a0
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3151
3152\section{The benchmark setup}
fe0a4c48 3153The benchmark itself is set up as a \name{JUnit} test case. This is a convenient
7940aed1
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3154setup, and utilizes the \name{JUnit Plugin Test Launcher}. This provides us with
3155a fully functional \name{Eclipse} workbench. Most importantly, this gives us
3156access to the Java Model of \name{Eclipse} \see{javaModel}.
356782a0
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3157
3158\subsection{The ProjectImporter}
3159The Java project that is going to be used as the data for the benchmark, must be
3160imported into the JUnit workspace. This is done by the
3161\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.benchmark}{ProjectImporter}. The importer
3162require the absolute path to the project description file. It is named
3163\code{.project} and is located at the root of the project directory.
3164
3165The project description is loaded to find the name of the project to be
3166imported. The project that shall be the destination for the import is created in
3167the workspace, on the base of the name from the description. Then an import
3168operation is created, based on both the source and destination information. The
3169import operation is run to perform the import.
3170
3171I have found no simple API call to accomplish what the importer does, which
fe0a4c48
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3172tells me that it may not be too many people performing this particular action.
3173The solution to the problem was found on \name{Stack
356782a0 3174Overflow}\footnote{\url{https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12401297}}. It
3ab3e132 3175contains enough dirty details to be considered inconvenient to use, if not
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3176wrapping it in a class like my \type{ProjectImporter}. One would probably have
3177to delve into the source code for the import wizard to find out how the import
3178operation works, if no one had already done it.
3179
8fe94c0b
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3180\section{Statistics}
3181Statistics for the analysis and changes is captured by the
3182\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.aspects}{StatisticsAspect}. This an
fe0a4c48 3183\emph{aspect} written in \name{AspectJ}.
8fe94c0b
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3184
3185\subsection{AspectJ}
fe0a4c48 3186\name{AspectJ}\footnote{\url{http://eclipse.org/aspectj/}} is an extension to
8fe94c0b
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3187the Java language, and facilitates combining aspect-oriented programming with
3188the object-oriented programming in Java.
3189
3190Aspect-oriented programming is a programming paradigm that is meant to isolate
3191so-called \emph{cross-cutting concerns} into their own modules. These
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3192cross-cutting concerns are functionalities that spans over multiple classes, but
3193may not belong naturally in any of them. It can be functionality that does not
3194concern the business logic of an application, and thus may be a burden when
3195entangled with parts of the source code it does not really belong. Examples
3196include logging, debugging, optimization and security.
8fe94c0b 3197
416b6888
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3198Aspects are interacting with other modules by defining advices. The concept of
3199an \emph{advice} is known from both aspect-oriented and functional
3200programming\citing{wikiAdvice2014}. It is a function that modifies another
3201function when the latter is run. An advice in AspectJ is somewhat similar to a
3202method in Java. It is meant to alter the behavior of other methods, and contains
3203a body that is executed when it is applied.
8fe94c0b
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3204
3205An advice can be applied at a defined \emph{pointcut}. A pointcut picks out one
3206or more \emph{join points}. A join point is a well-defined point in the
3207execution of a program. It can occur when calling a method defined for a
3208particular class, when calling all methods with the same name,
3209accessing/assigning to a particular field of a given class and so on. An advice
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3210can be declared to run both before, after returning from a pointcut, when there
3211is thrown an exception in the pointcut or after the pointcut either returns or
3212throws an exception. In addition to picking out join points, a pointcut can
3213also bind variables from its context, so they can be accessed in the body of an
3214advice. An example of a pointcut and an advice is found in
3215\myref{lst:aspectjExample}.
8fe94c0b
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3216
3217\begin{listing}[h]
c8088eec 3218\begin{minted}{aspectj}
8fe94c0b
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3219pointcut methodAnalyze(
3220 SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer analyzer) :
3221 call(* SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer.analyze())
3222 && target(analyzer);
3223
3224after(SearchBasedExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer analyzer) :
3225 methodAnalyze(analyzer) {
3226 statistics.methodCount++;
3227 debugPrintMethodAnalysisProgress(analyzer.method);
3228}
3229\end{minted}
3230\caption{An example of a pointcut named \method{methodAnalyze},
3231and an advice defined to be applied after it has occurred.}
3232\label{lst:aspectjExample}
3233\end{listing}
3234
dd73ba39
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3235\subsection{The Statistics class}
3236The statistics aspect stores statistical information in an object of type
3237\type{Statistics}. As of now, the aspect needs to be initialized at the point in
3238time where it is desired that it starts its data gathering. At any point in time
3239the statistics aspect can be queried for a snapshot of the current statistics.
3240
3241The \type{Statistics} class also include functionality for generating a report
3242of its gathered statistics. The report can be given either as a string or it can
3243be written to a file.
3244
3245\subsection{Advices}
3246The statistics aspect contains advices for gathering statistical data from
3247different parts of the benchmarking process. It captures statistics from both
3248the analysis part and the execution part of the composite \ExtractAndMoveMethod
3249refactoring.
3250
3251For the analysis part, there are advices to count the number of text selections
3252analyzed and the number of methods, types, compilation units and packages
3253analyzed. There are also advices that counts for how many of the methods there
3254is found a selection that is a candidate for the refactoring, and for how many
3ab3e132 3255methods there is not.
dd73ba39
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3256
3257There exists advices for counting both the successful and unsuccessful
3258executions of all the refactorings. Both for the \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod
3259refactorings in isolation, as well as for the combination of them.
3260
8fe94c0b 3261\section{Optimizations}
41293210 3262When looking for optimizations to make for the benchmarking process, I used the
60065669
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3263\name{VisualVM}\footnote{\url{http://visualvm.java.net/}} \gloss{profiler} for
3264the Java Virtual Machine to both profile the application and also to make memory
3265dumps of its heap.
8fe94c0b
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3266
3267\subsection{Caching}
60065669
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3268When \gloss{profiling} the benchmark process before making any optimizations, it
3269early became apparent that the parsing of source code was a place to direct
3270attention towards. This discovery was done when only \emph{analyzing} source
3271code, before trying to do any \emph{manipulation} of it. Caching of the parsed
3272ASTs seemed like the best way to save some time, as expected. With only a simple
3273cache of the most recently used AST, the analysis time was speeded up by a
3274factor of around 20. This number depends a little upon which type of system the
3275analysis is run.
41293210
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3276
3277The caching is managed by a cache manager, that now, by default, utilizes the
3278not so well known feature of Java called a \emph{soft reference}. Soft
3279references are best explained in the context of weak references. A \emph{weak
3280reference} is a reference to an object instance that is only guaranteed to
3281persist as long as there is a \emph{strong reference} or a soft reference
3282referring the same object. If no such reference is found, its referred object is
3283garbage collected. A strong reference is basically the same as a regular Java
3284reference. A soft reference has the same guarantees as a week reference when it
3285comes to its relation to strong references, but it is not necessarily garbage
3286collected whenever there exists no strong references to it. A soft reference
3287\emph{may} reside in memory as long as the JVM has enough free memory in the
3288heap. A soft reference will therefore usually perform better than a weak
3289reference when used for simple caching and similar tasks. The way to use a
3290soft/weak reference is to as it for its referent. The return value then has to
3291be tested to check that it is not \var{null}. For the basic usage of soft
3292references, see \myref{lst:softReferenceExample}. For a more thorough
3293explanation of weak references in general, see\citing{weakRef2006}.
3294
3295\begin{listing}[h]
3296\begin{minted}{java}
3297// Strong reference
3298Object strongRef = new Object();
3299
3300// Soft reference
3301SoftReference<Object> softRef =
3302 new SoftReference<Object>(new Object());
3303
3304// Using the soft reference
3305Object obj = softRef.get();
3306if (obj != null) {
3307 // Use object here
3308}
3309\end{minted}
3310\caption{Showing the basic usage of soft references. Weak references is used the
3311 same way. {\footnotesize (The references are part of the \code{java.lang.ref}
3312package.)}}
3313\label{lst:softReferenceExample}
3314\end{listing}
3315
3316The cache based on soft references has no limit for how many ASTs it caches. It
3317is generally not advisable to keep references to ASTs for prolonged periods of
3318time, since they are expensive structures to hold on to. For regular plugin
fe0a4c48 3319development, \name{Eclipse} recommends not creating more than one AST at a time to
41293210
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3320limit memory consumption. Since the benchmarking has nothing to do with user
3321experience, and throughput is everything, these advices are intentionally
fe0a4c48 3322ignored. This means that during the benchmarking process, the target \name{Eclipse}
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3323application may very well work close to its memory limit for the heap space for
3324long periods during the benchmark.
8fe94c0b 3325
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3326\subsection{Candidates stored as mementos}
3327When performing large scale analysis of source code for finding candidates to
3328the \ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring, memory is an issue. One of the inputs to
3329the refactoring is a variable binding. This variable binding indirectly retains
3330a whole AST. Since ASTs are large structures, this quickly leads to an
3331\type{OutOfMemoryError} if trying to analyze a large project without optimizing
3332how we store the candidates data. This means that the JVM cannot allocate more
3333memory for out benchmark, and it exists disgracefully.
3334
3335A possible solution could be to just allow the JVM to allocate even more memory,
3336but this is not a dependable solution. The allocated memory could easily
3337supersede the physical memory of a machine, and that would make the benchmark go
3338really slow.
3339
3340Thus, the candidates data must be stored in another format. Therefore, we use
3341the \gloss{mementoPattern} to store the variable binding information. This is
3342done in a way that makes it possible to retrieve the variable binding at a later
3343point. The data that is stored to achieve this, is the key to the original
3344variable binding. In addition to the key, we know which method and text
3345selection the variable is referenced in, so that we can find it by parsing the
3346source code and search for it when it is needed.
356782a0 3347
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3348
3349\chapter{Technicalities}
3350
3351\section{Source code organization}
60065669 3352All the parts of this master's project is under version control with
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3353\name{Git}\footnote{\url{http://git-scm.com/}}.
3354
3355The software written is organized as some \name{Eclipse} plugins. Writing a plugin is
3356the natural way to utilize the API of \name{Eclipse}. This also makes it possible to
3357provide a user interface to manually run operations on selections in program
3358source code or whole projects/packages.
3359
3360When writing a plugin in \name{Eclipse}, one has access to resources such as the
3361current workspace, the open editor and the current selection.
3362
3363The thesis work is contained in the following Eclipse projects:
3364
3365\begin{description}
3366 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor] \hfill \\ This is the main Eclipse plugin
3367 project, and contains all of the business logic for the plugin.
3368
3369 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.tests] \hfill \\
3370 This project contains the tests for the main plugin.
3371
3372 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.examples] \hfill \\
3373 Contains example code used in testing. It also contains code for managing
3374 this example code, such as creating an Eclipse project from it before a test
3375 run.
3376
3377 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.benchmark] \hfill \\
3378 This project contains code for running search based versions of the
3379 composite refactoring over selected Eclipse projects.
3380
3381 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.releng] \hfill \\
3382 Contains the rmap, queries and target definitions needed by by Buckminster
3383 on the Jenkins continuous integration server.
3384
3385\end{description}
3386
3387\subsection{The no.uio.ifi.refaktor project}
3388
3389\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze}
3390This package, and its subpackages, contains code that is used for analyzing Java
3391source code. The most important subpackages are presented below.
3392
3393\begin{description}
3394 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers] \hfill \\
3395 This package contains source code analyzers. These are usually responsible
3396 for analyzing text selections or running specialized analyzers for different
3397 kinds of entities. Their structure are often hierarchical. This means that
3398 you have an analyzer for text selections, that in turn is utilized by an
3399 analyzer that analyzes all the selections of a method. Then there are
3400 analyzers for analyzing all the methods of a type, all the types of a
3401 compilation unit, all the compilation units of a package, and, at last, all
3402 of the packages in a project.
3403
3404 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.checkers] \hfill \\
3405 A package containing checkers. The checkers are classes used to validate
3406 that a selection can be further analyzed and chosen as a candidate for a
3407 refactoring. Invalidating properties can be such as usage of inner classes
3408 or the need for multiple return values.
3409
3410 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors] \hfill \\
3411 This package contains the property collectors. Collectors are used to gather
3412 properties from a text selection. This is mostly properties regarding
3413 referenced names and their occurrences. It is these properties that makes up
3414 the basis for finding the best candidates for a refactoring.
3415\end{description}
3416
3417\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change}
3418This package, and its subpackages, contains functionality for manipulate source
3419code.
3420
3421\begin{description}
3422 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.changers] \hfill \\
3423 This package contains source code changers. They are used to glue together
3424 the analysis of source code and the actual execution of the changes.
3425
3426 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors] \hfill \\
3427 The executors that are responsible for making concrete changes are found in
3428 this package. They are mostly used to create and execute one or more Eclipse
3429 refactorings.
3430
3431 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.processors] \hfill \\
3432 Contains a refactoring processor for the \MoveMethod refactoring. The code
3433 is stolen and modified to fix a bug. The related bug is described in
3434 \myref{eclipse_bug_429416}.
3435
3436\end{description}
3437
3438\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.handlers}
3439This package contains handlers for the commands defined in the plugin manifest.
3440
3441\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.prefix}
3442This package contains the \type{Prefix} type that is the data representation of
3443the prefixes found by the \type{PrefixesCollector}. It also contains the prefix
3444set for storing and working with prefixes.
3445
3446\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.statistics}
3447The package contains statistics functionality. Its heart is the statistics
3448aspect that is responsible for gathering statistics during the execution of the
3449\ExtractAndMoveMethod refactoring.
3450
3451\begin{description}
3452 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.statistics.reports] \hfill \\
3453 This package contains a simple framework for generating reports from the
3454 statistics data generated by the aspect. Currently, the only available
3455 report type is a simple text report.
3456
3457\end{description}
3458
3459
3460\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.textselection}
3461This package contains the two custom text selections that are used extensively
3462throughout the project. One of them is just a subclass of the other, to support
3463the use of the memento pattern to optimize the memory usage during benchmarking.
3464
3465\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.debugging}
3466The package contains a debug utility class. I addition to this, the package
3467\code{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils.aspects} contains a couple of aspects used for
3468debugging purposes.
3469
3470\subsubsection{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils}
3471Utility package that contains all the functionality that has to do with parsing
3472of source code. It also has utility classes for looking up handles to methods
3473and types et cetera.
3474
3475\begin{description}
3476 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils.caching] \hfill \\
3477 This package contains the caching manager for compilation units, along with
3478 classes for different caching strategies.
3479
3480 \item[no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils.nullobjects] \hfill \\
3481 Contains classes for creating different null objects. Most of the classes is
3482 used to represent null objects of different handle types. These null objects
3483 are returned from various utility classes instead of returning a \var{null}
3484 value when other values are not available.
3485
3486\end{description}
3487
3488\section{Continuous integration}
3489The continuous integration server
3490\name{Jenkins}\footnote{\url{http://jenkins-ci.org/}} has been set up for the
3491project\footnote{A work mostly done by the supervisor.}. It is used as a way to
3492run tests and perform code coverage analysis.
3493
3494To be able to build the \name{Eclipse} plugins and run tests for them with Jenkins, the
3495component assembly project
3496\name{Buckminster}\footnote{\url{http://www.eclipse.org/buckminster/}} is used,
3497through its plugin for Jenkins. Buckminster provides for a way to specify the
3498resources needed for building a project and where and how to find them.
3499Buckminster also handles the setup of a target environment to run the tests in.
3500All this is needed because the code to build depends on an \name{Eclipse}
3501installation with various plugins.
3502
3503\subsection{Problems with AspectJ}
3504The Buckminster build worked fine until introducing AspectJ into the project.
3505When building projects using AspectJ, there are some additional steps that needs
3506to be performed. First of all, the aspects themselves must be compiled. Then the
3507aspects needs to be woven with the classes they affect. This demands a process
3508that does multiple passes over the source code.
3509
3510When using AspectJ with \name{Eclipse}, the specialized compilation and the
3511weaving can be handled by the \name{AspectJ Development
3512Tools}\footnote{\url{https://www.eclipse.org/ajdt/}}. This works all fine, but
3513it complicates things when trying to build a project depending on \name{Eclipse}
3514plugins outside of \name{Eclipse}. There is supposed to be a way to specify a
3515compiler adapter for javac, together with the file extensions for the file types
3516it shall operate. The AspectJ compiler adapter is called
3517\typewithref{org.aspectj.tools.ant.taskdefs}{Ajc11CompilerAdapter}, and it works
3518with files that has the extensions \code{*.java} and \code{*.aj}. I tried to
3519setup this in the build properties file for the project containing the aspects,
3520but to no avail. The project containing the aspects does not seem to be built at
3521all, and the projects that depends on it complains that they cannot find certain
3522classes.
3523
3524I then managed to write an \name{Ant}\footnote{\url{https://ant.apache.org/}}
3525build file that utilizes the AspectJ compiler adapter, for the
3526\code{no.uio.ifi.refaktor} plugin. The problem was then that it could no longer
3527take advantage of the environment set up by Buckminster. The solution to this
3528particular problem was of a ``hacky'' nature. It involves exporting the plugin
3529dependencies for the project to an Ant build file, and copy the exported path
3530into the existing build script. But then the Ant script needs to know where the
3531local \name{Eclipse} installation is located. This is no problem when building
3532on a local machine, but to utilize the setup done by Buckminster is a problem
3533still unsolved. To get the classpath for the build setup correctly, and here
3534comes the most ``hacky'' part of the solution, the Ant script has a target for
3535copying the classpath elements into a directory relative to the project
3536directory and checking it into Git. When no \code{ECLIPSE\_HOME} property is set
3537while running Ant, the script uses the copied plugins instead of the ones
3538provided by the \name{Eclipse} installation when building the project. This
3539obviously creates some problems with maintaining the list of dependencies in the
3540Ant file, as well as remembering to copy the plugins every time the list of
3541dependencies change.
3542
3543The Ant script described above is run by Jenkins before the Buckminster setup
3544and build. When setup like this, the Buckminster build succeeds for the projects
3545not using AspectJ, and the tests are run as normal. This is all good, but it
3546feels a little scary, since the reason for Buckminster not working with AspectJ
3547is still unknown.
3548
3549The problems with building with AspectJ on the Jenkins server lasted for a
3550while, before they were solved. This is reflected in the ``Test Result Trend''
3551and ``Code Coverage Trend'' reported by Jenkins.
3552
3553
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3554\chapter{Methodology}
3555
3556\section{Evolutionary design}
3557In the programming work for this project, it have tried to use a design strategy
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3558called evolutionary design, also known as continuous or incremental
3559design\citing{wiki_continuous_2014}. It is a software design strategy
3560advocated by the Extreme Programming community. The essence of the strategy is
3561that you should let the design of your program evolve naturally as your
3562requirements change. This is seen in contrast with up-front design, where
3563design decisions are made early in the process.
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3564
3565The motivation behind evolutionary design is to keep the design of software as
3566simple as possible. This means not introducing unneeded functionality into a
3567program. You should defer introducing flexibility into your software, until it
3568is needed to be able to add functionality in a clean way.
3569
3570Holding up design decisions, implies that the time will eventually come when
3571decisions have to be made. The flexibility of the design then relies on the
3572programmer's abilities to perform the necessary refactoring, and \his confidence
3573in those abilities. From my experience working on this project, I can say that
3574this confidence is greatly enhanced by having automated tests to rely on
3575\see{tdd}.
3576
3577The choice of going for evolutionary design developed naturally. As Fowler
3578points out in his article \tit{Is Design Dead?}, evolutionary design much
3579resembles the ``code and fix'' development strategy\citing{fowler_design_2004}.
3580A strategy that most of us have practiced in school. This was also the case when
3581I first started this work. I had to learn the inner workings of Eclipse and its
3582refactoring-related plugins. That meant a lot of fumbling around with code I did
3583not know, in a trial and error fashion. Eventually I started writing tests for
3584my code, and my design began to evolve.
3585
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3586\section{Test-driven development}\label{tdd}
3587As mentioned before, the project started out as a classic code and fix
3588developmen process. My focus was aimed at getting something to work, rather than
3589doing so according to best practice. This resulted in a project that got out of
3590its starting blocks, but it was not accompanied by any tests. Hence it was soon
3591difficult to make any code changes with the confidence that the program was
3592still correct afterwards (assuming it was so before changing it). I always knew
3593that I had to introduce some tests at one point, but this experience accelerated
3594the process of leading me onto the path of testing.
3595
3596I then wrote tests for the core functionality of the plugin, and thus gained
3597more confidence in the correctness of my code. I could now perform quite drastic
3598changes without ``wetting my pants``. After this, nearly all of the semantic
3599changes done to the business logic of the project, or the addition of new
3600functionality, was made in a test-driven manner. This means that before
3601performing any changes, I would define the desired functionality through a set
3602of tests. I would then run the tests to check that they were run and that they
3603did not pass. Then I would do any code changes necessary to make the tests
3604pass. The definition of how the program is supposed to operate is then captured
3605by the tests. However, this does not prove the correctness of the analysis
3606leading to the test definitions.
3607
3608\section{Continuous integration}
3609\todoin{???}
3610
3611
3727b75b 3612\chapter{Eclipse Bugs Found}
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3613\newcommand{\submittedBugReport}[1]{The submitted bug report can be found on
3614 \url{#1}.}
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3615
3616\section{Eclipse bug 420726: Code is broken when moving a method that is
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3617assigning to the parameter that is also the move
3618destination}\label{eclipse_bug_420726}
540ca7e4 3619This bug
94bb49f0 3620was found when analyzing what kinds of names that was to be considered as
3727b75b 3621\emph{unfixes} \see{unfixes}.
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3622
3623\subsection{The bug}
3624The bug emerges when trying to move a method from one class to another, and when
3625the target for the move (must be a variable, local or field) is both a parameter
fe0a4c48 3626variable and also is assigned to within the method body. \name{Eclipse} allows this to
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3627happen, although it is the sure path to a compilation error. This is because we
3628would then have an assignment to a \var{this} expression, which is not allowed
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3629in Java.
3630\submittedBugReport{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=420726}
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3631
3632\subsection{The solution}
3633The solution to this problem is to add all simple names that are assigned to in
3634a method body to the set of unfixes.
128adb4f 3635
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3636\section{Eclipse bug 429416: IAE when moving method from anonymous
3637class}\label{eclipse_bug_429416}
540ca7e4 3638I discovered
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3639this bug during a batch change on the \type{org.eclipse.jdt.ui} project.
3640
3641\subsection{The bug}
fe0a4c48 3642This bug surfaces when trying to use the \refa{Move Method} refactoring to move a
94bb49f0 3643method from an anonymous class to another class. This happens both for my
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3644simulation as well as in \name{Eclipse}, through the user interface. It only occurs
3645when \name{Eclipse} analyzes the program and finds it necessary to pass an instance of
94bb49f0 3646the originating class as a parameter to the moved method. I.e. it want to pass a
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3647\var{this} expression. The execution ends in an
3648\typewithref{java.lang}{IllegalArgumentException} in
3649\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{SimpleName} and its
3650\method{setIdentifier(String)} method. The simple name is attempted created in
3651the method
3652\methodwithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.structure.\\MoveInstanceMethodProcessor}{createInlinedMethodInvocation}
3653so the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} was early a clear suspect.
3654
3655The \method{createInlinedMethodInvocation} is the method that creates a method
3656invocation where the previous invocation to the method that was moved was. From
3657its code it can be read that when a \var{this} expression is going to be passed
3658in to the invocation, it shall be qualified with the name of the original
3ab3e132 3659method's declaring class, if the declaring class is either an anonymous class or
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3660a member class. The problem with this, is that an anonymous class does not have
3661a name, hence the term \emph{anonymous} class! Therefore, when its name, an
3662empty string, is passed into
3663\methodwithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom.AST}{newSimpleName} it all ends in an
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3664\type{IllegalArgumentException}.
3665\submittedBugReport{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=429416}
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3666
3667\subsection{How I solved the problem}
3668Since the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} is instantiated in the
3669\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{MoveMethod\-RefactoringExecutor},
3670and only need to be a
3671\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{MoveProcessor}, I
3672was able to copy the code for the original move processor and modify it so that
3673it works better for me. It is now called
f1b6174d 3674\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.processors}{ModifiedMoveInstanceMethodProcessor}.
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3675The only modification done (in addition to some imports and suppression of
3676warnings), is in the \method{createInlinedMethodInvocation}. When the declaring
3677class of the method to move is anonymous, the \var{this} expression in the
3678parameter list is not qualified with the declaring class' (empty) name.
3679
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3680\section{Eclipse bug 429954: Extracting statement with reference to local type
3681breaks code}\label{eclipse_bug_429954}
540ca7e4 3682The bug
a6415293 3683was discovered when doing some changes to the way unfixes is computed.
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3684
3685\subsection{The bug}
fe0a4c48 3686The problem is that \name{Eclipse} is allowing selections that references variables of
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3687local types to be extracted. When this happens the code is broken, since the
3688extracted method must take a parameter of a local type that is not in the
3689methods scope. The problem is illustrated in
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3690\myref{lst:extractMethod_LocalClass}, but there in another setting.
3691\submittedBugReport{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=429954}
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3692
3693\subsection{Actions taken}
3694There are no actions directly springing out of this bug, since the Extract
a6415293 3695Method refactoring cannot be meant to be this way. This is handled on the
fe0a4c48 3696analysis stage of our \refa{Extract and Move Method} refactoring. So names representing
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3697variables of local types is considered unfixes \see{unfixes}.
3698\todoin{write more when fixing this in legal statements checker}
3699
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3700\chapter{Conclusions and Future Work}
3701\todoin{Write}
0e6e57d3 3702
d516ac0b 3703\section{Future work}
0e6e57d3
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3704\todoin{Copied from introduction:}
3705For the metrics, I will at least measure the \metr{Coupling between object
3706classes} (CBO) metric that is described by Chidamber and Kemerer in their
3707article \tit{A Metrics Suite for Object Oriented
3708Design}\citing{metricsSuite1994}.
3709
3710\ldots
3711
3712Then the effect of the change must be measured by calculating the chosen
3713software metrics both before and after the execution.
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3714\todoin{Metrics, \ldots}
3715
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3716\chapter{Related Work}
3717
3718\section{The compositional paradigm of refactoring}
3719This paradigm builds upon the observation of Vakilian et
3720al.\citing{vakilian2012}, that of the many automated refactorings existing in
3721modern IDEs, the simplest ones are dominating the usage statistics. The report
fe0a4c48 3722mainly focuses on \name{Eclipse} as the tool under investigation.
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3723
3724The paradigm is described almost as the opposite of automated composition of
3725refactorings \see{compositeRefactorings}. It works by providing the programmer
3726with easily accessible primitive refactorings. These refactorings shall be
3727accessed via keyboard shortcuts or quick-assist menus\footnote{Think
fe0a4c48 3728quick-assist with Ctrl+1 in \name{Eclipse}} and be promptly executed, opposed to in the
3ab3e132 3729currently dominating wizard-based refactoring paradigm. They are meant to
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3730stimulate composing smaller refactorings into more complex changes, rather than
3731doing a large upfront configuration of a wizard-based refactoring, before
3732previewing and executing it. The compositional paradigm of refactoring is
3733supposed to give control back to the programmer, by supporting \himher with an
3734option of performing small rapid changes instead of large changes with a lesser
3735degree of control. The report authors hope this will lead to fewer unsuccessful
3736refactorings. It also could lower the bar for understanding the steps of a
3737larger composite refactoring and thus also help in figuring out what goes wrong
3738if one should choose to op in on a wizard-based refactoring.
3739
3740Vakilian and his associates have performed a survey of the effectiveness of the
3741compositional paradigm versus the wizard-based one. They claim to have found
3742evidence of that the \emph{compositional paradigm} outperforms the
3743\emph{wizard-based}. It does so by reducing automation, which seem
3744counterintuitive. Therefore they ask the question ``What is an appropriate level
3745of automation?'', and thus questions what they feel is a rush toward more
3746automation in the software engineering community.
3747
3748
9ff90080 3749\backmatter{}
fe0a4c48 3750\printglossaries
9ff90080 3751\printbibliography
055dca93 3752\listoftodos
9ff90080 3753\end{document}