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58\newcommand\todoin[2][]{\todo[inline, caption={2do}, #1]{
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60
7c28933b 61\title{Refactoring}
aa1e3779 62\subtitle{An essay}
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63\author{Erlend Kristiansen}
64
65\bibliography{bibliography/master-thesis-erlenkr-bibliography}
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9ff90080 115\begin{document}
531c4132 116\ififorside
9ff90080 117\frontmatter{}
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118
119
120\chapter*{Abstract}
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121\todoin{\textbf{Remove all todos (including list) before delivery/printing!!!
122Can be done by removing ``draft'' from documentclass.}}
889ba93e 123\todoin{Write abstract}
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124
125\tableofcontents{}
126\listoffigures{}
127\listoftables{}
128
129\chapter*{Preface}
130
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131The discussions in this report must be seen in the context of object oriented
132programming languages, and Java in particular, since that is the language in
133which most of the examples will be given. All though the techniques discussed
134may be applicable to languages from other paradigms, they will not be the
135subject of this report.
f3a108c3 136
055dca93 137\mainmatter
00aa0588 138
740e1b6c 139\chapter{What is Refactoring?}
7c28933b 140
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141This question is best answered by first defining the concept of a
142\emph{refactoring}, what it is to \emph{refactor}, and then discuss what aspects
a1bafe90 143of programming make people want to refactor their code.
00aa0588 144
740e1b6c 145\section{Defining refactoring}
a1bafe90 146Martin Fowler, in his classic book on refactoring\citing{refactoring}, defines a
00aa0588 147refactoring like this:
ee45c41f 148
00aa0588 149\begin{quote}
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150 \emph{Refactoring} (noun): a change made to the internal
151 structure\footnote{The structure observable by the programmer.} of software to
152 make it easier to understand and cheaper to modify without changing its
153 observable behavior.~\cite[p.~53]{refactoring}
00aa0588 154\end{quote}
ee45c41f 155
a1bafe90 156\noindent This definition assigns additional meaning to the word
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157\emph{refactoring}, beyond the composition of the prefix \emph{re-}, usually
158meaning something like ``again'' or ``anew'', and the word \emph{factoring},
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159that can mean to isolate the \emph{factors} of something. Here a \emph{factor}
160would be close to the mathematical definition of something that divides a
161quantity, without leaving a remainder. Fowler is mixing the \emph{motivation}
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162behind refactoring into his definition. Instead it could be more refined, formed
163to only consider the \emph{mechanical} and \emph{behavioral} aspects of
164refactoring. That is to factor the program again, putting it together in a
165different way than before, while preserving the behavior of the program. An
166alternative definition could then be:
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167
168\definition{A \emph{refactoring} is a transformation
8fae7b44 169done to a program without altering its external behavior.}
00aa0588 170
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171From this we can conclude that a refactoring primarily changes how the
172\emph{code} of a program is perceived by the \emph{programmer}, and not the
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173\emph{behavior} experienced by any user of the program. Although the logical
174meaning is preserved, such changes could potentially alter the program's
175behavior when it comes to performance gain or -penalties. So any logic depending
176on the performance of a program could make the program behave differently after
177a refactoring.
00aa0588 178
137e0e7b 179In the extreme case one could argue that such a thing as \emph{software
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180obfuscation} is refactoring. Software obfuscation is to make source code harder
181to read and analyze, while preserving its semantics. It could be done composing
182many, more or less randomly chosen, refactorings. Then the question arise
183whether it can be called a \emph{composite refactoring}
184\see{compositeRefactorings} or not? The answer is not obvious. First, there is
185no way to describe \emph{the} mechanics of software obfuscation, beacause there
186are infinitely many ways to do that. Second, \emph{obfuscation} can be thought
187of as \emph{one operation}: Either the code is obfuscated, or it is not. Third,
188it makes no sense to call software obfuscation \emph{a} refactoring, since it
189holds different meaning to different people. The last point is important, since
190one of the motivations behind defining different refactorings is to build up a
191vocabulary for software professionals to reason and discuss about programs,
192similar to the motivation behind design patterns\citing{designPatterns}. So for
193describing \emph{software obfuscation}, it might be more appropriate to define
194what you do when performing it rather than precisely defining its mechanics in
195terms of other refactorings.
00aa0588 196
740e1b6c 197\section{The etymology of 'refactoring'}
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198It is a little difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of the word
199``refactoring'', as it seems to have evolved as part of a colloquial
200terminology, more than a scientific term. There is no authoritative source for a
201formal definition of it.
202
b5c7bb1b 203According to Martin Fowler\citing{etymology-refactoring}, there may also be more
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204than one origin of the word. The most well-known source, when it comes to the
205origin of \emph{refactoring}, is the Smalltalk\footnote{\emph{Smalltalk},
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206object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. See
207\url{http://www.smalltalk.org}} community and their infamous \emph{Refactoring
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208Browser}\footnote{\url{http://st-www.cs.illinois.edu/users/brant/Refactory/RefactoringBrowser.html}}
209described in the article \emph{A Refactoring Tool for
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210Smalltalk}\citing{refactoringBrowser1997}, published in 1997.
211Allegedly\citing{etymology-refactoring}, the metaphor of factoring programs was
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212also present in the Forth\footnote{\emph{Forth} -- stack-based, extensible
213programming language, without type-checking. See \url{http://www.forth.org}}
214community, and the word ``refactoring'' is mentioned in a book by Leo Brodie,
b5c7bb1b 215called \emph{Thinking Forth}\citing{brodie1984}, first published in
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2161984\footnote{\emph{Thinking Forth} was first published in 1984 by the
217\emph{Forth Interest Group}. Then it was reprinted in 1994 with minor
218typographical corrections, before it was transcribed into an electronic edition
219typeset in \LaTeX\ and published under a Creative Commons licence in 2004. The
220edition cited here is the 2004 edition, but the content should essentially be as
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221in 1984.}. The exact word is only printed one place~\cite[p.~232]{brodie1984},
222but the term \emph{factoring} is prominent in the book, that also contains a
223whole chapter dedicated to (re)factoring, and how to keep the (Forth) code clean
224and maintainable.
ee45c41f 225
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226\begin{quote}
227 \ldots good factoring technique is perhaps the most important skill for a
4cb06723 228 Forth programmer.~\cite[p.~172]{brodie1984}
f3a108c3 229\end{quote}
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230
231\noindent Brodie also express what \emph{factoring} means to him:
232
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233\begin{quote}
234 Factoring means organizing code into useful fragments. To make a fragment
235 useful, you often must separate reusable parts from non-reusable parts. The
236 reusable parts become new definitions. The non-reusable parts become arguments
4cb06723 237 or parameters to the definitions.~\cite[p.~172]{brodie1984}
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238\end{quote}
239
240Fowler claims that the usage of the word \emph{refactoring} did not pass between
241the \emph{Forth} and \emph{Smalltalk} communities, but that it emerged
242independently in each of the communities.
243
740e1b6c 244\section{Motivation -- Why people refactor}
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245There are many reasons why people want to refactor their programs. They can for
246instance do it to remove duplication, break up long methods or to introduce
247design patterns\citing{designPatterns} into their software systems. The shared
248trait for all these are that peoples intentions are to make their programs
249\emph{better}, in some sense. But what aspects of their programs are becoming
250improved?
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251
252As already mentioned, people often refactor to get rid of duplication. Moving
a1bafe90 253identical or similar code into methods, and maybe pushing methods up or down in
740e1b6c 254their class hierarchies. Making template methods for overlapping
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255algorithms/functionality and so on. It is all about gathering what belongs
256together and putting it all in one place. The resulting code is then easier to
257maintain. When removing the implicit coupling\footnote{When duplicating code,
258the code might not be coupled in other ways than that it is supposed to
259represent the same functionality. So if this functionality is going to change,
260it might need to change in more than one place, thus creating an implicit
261coupling between the multiple pieces of code.} between code snippets, the
137e0e7b 262location of a bug is limited to only one place, and new functionality need only
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263to be added to this one place, instead of a number of places people might not
264even remember.
265
266A problem you often encounter when programming, is that a program contains a lot
267of long and hard-to-grasp methods. It can then help to break the methods into
268smaller ones, using the \ExtractMethod refactoring\citing{refactoring}. Then you
269may discover something about a program that you were not aware of before;
270revealing bugs you did not know about or could not find due to the complex
271structure of your program. \todo{Proof?} Making the methods smaller and giving
272good names to the new ones clarifies the algorithms and enhances the
273\emph{understandability} of the program \see{magic_number_seven}. This makes
274refactoring an excellent method for exploring unknown program code, or code that
275you had forgotten that you wrote.
276
277Most primitive refactorings are simple. Their true power is first revealed when
278they are combined into larger --- higher level --- refactorings, called
279\emph{composite refactorings} \see{compositeRefactorings}. Often the goal of
280such a series of refactorings is a design pattern. Thus the \emph{design} can be
281evolved throughout the lifetime of a program, as opposed to designing up-front.
282It is all about being structured and taking small steps to improve a program's
283design.
284
285Many software design pattern are aimed at lowering the coupling between
286different classes and different layers of logic. One of the most famous is
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287perhaps the \emph{Model-View-Controller}\citing{designPatterns} pattern. It is
288aimed at lowering the coupling between the user interface and the business logic
289and data representation of a program. This also has the added benefit that the
290business logic could much easier be the target of automated tests, increasing
291the productivity in the software development process. Refactoring is an
292important tool on the way to something greater.
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293
294Another effect of refactoring is that with the increased separation of concerns
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295coming out of many refactorings, the \emph{performance} can be improved. When
296profiling programs, the problematic parts are narrowed down to smaller parts of
297the code, which are easier to tune, and optimization can be performed only where
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298needed and in a more effective way.
299
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300Last, but not least, and this should probably be the best reason to refactor, is
301to refactor to \emph{facilitate a program change}. If one has managed to keep
302one's code clean and tidy, and the code is not bloated with design patterns that
a1bafe90 303are not ever going to be needed, then some refactoring might be needed to
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304introduce a design pattern that is appropriate for the change that is going to
305happen.
306
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307Refactoring program code --- with a goal in mind --- can give the code itself
308more value. That is in the form of robustness to bugs, understandability and
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309maintainability. Having robust code is an obvious advantage, but
310understandability and maintainability are both very important aspects of
311software development. By incorporating refactoring in the development process,
312bugs are found faster, new functionality is added more easily and code is easier
313to understand by the next person exposed to it, which might as well be the
314person who wrote it. The consequence of this, is that refactoring can increase
315the average productivity of the development process, and thus also add to the
316monetary value of a business in the long run. The perspective on productivity
317and money should also be able to open the eyes of the many nearsighted managers
318that seldom see beyond the next milestone.
137e0e7b 319
b01d328a 320\section{The magical number seven}\label{magic_number_seven}
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321The article \emph{The magical number seven, plus or minus two: some limits on
322our capacity for processing information}\citing{miller1956} by George A.
323Miller, was published in the journal \emph{Psychological Review} in 1956. It
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324presents evidence that support that the capacity of the number of objects a
325human being can hold in its working memory is roughly seven, plus or minus two
326objects. This number varies a bit depending on the nature and complexity of the
327objects, but is according to Miller ``\ldots never changing so much as to be
328unrecognizable.''
329
330Miller's article culminates in the section called \emph{Recoding}, a term he
331borrows from communication theory. The central result in this section is that by
332recoding information, the capacity of the amount of information that a human can
333process at a time is increased. By \emph{recoding}, Miller means to group
334objects together in chunks and give each chunk a new name that it can be
335remembered by. By organizing objects into patterns of ever growing depth, one
336can memorize and process a much larger amount of data than if it were to be
337represented as its basic pieces. This grouping and renaming is analogous to how
338many refactorings work, by grouping pieces of code and give them a new name.
a1bafe90 339Examples are the fundamental \ExtractMethod and \refactoring{Extract Class}
b5c7bb1b 340refactorings\citing{refactoring}.
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341
342\begin{quote}
343 \ldots recoding is an extremely powerful weapon for increasing the amount of
4cb06723 344 information that we can deal with.~\cite[p.~95]{miller1956}
f4cea2d6 345\end{quote}
ee45c41f 346
a1bafe90 347An example from the article addresses the problem of memorizing a sequence of
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348binary digits. Let us say we have the following sequence\footnote{The example
349 presented here is slightly modified (and shortened) from what is presented in
b5c7bb1b 350 the original article\citing{miller1956}, but it is essentially the same.} of
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35116 binary digits: ``1010001001110011''. Most of us will have a hard time
352memorizing this sequence by only reading it once or twice. Imagine if we instead
353translate it to this sequence: ``A273''. If you have a background from computer
354science, it will be obvious that the latest sequence is the first sequence
355recoded to be represented by digits with base 16. Most people should be able to
356memorize this last sequence by only looking at it once.
357
358Another result from the Miller article is that when the amount of information a
359human must interpret increases, it is crucial that the translation from one code
360to another must be almost automatic for the subject to be able to remember the
0d7fbd88 361translation, before \heshe is presented with new information to recode. Thus
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362learning and understanding how to best organize certain kinds of data is
363essential to efficiently handle that kind of data in the future. This is much
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364like when humans learn to read. First they must learn how to recognize letters.
365Then they can learn distinct words, and later read sequences of words that form
366whole sentences. Eventually, most of them will be able to read whole books and
367briefly retell the important parts of its content. This suggest that the use of
368design patterns\citing{designPatterns} is a good idea when reasoning about
369computer programs. With extensive use of design patterns when creating complex
370program structures, one does not always have to read whole classes of code to
371comprehend how they function, it may be sufficient to only see the name of a
372class to almost fully understand its responsibilities.
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373
374\begin{quote}
375 Our language is tremendously useful for repackaging material into a few chunks
4cb06723 376 rich in information.~\cite[p.~95]{miller1956}
f4cea2d6 377\end{quote}
ee45c41f 378
a1bafe90 379Without further evidence, these results at least indicate that refactoring
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380source code into smaller units with higher cohesion and, when needed,
381introducing appropriate design patterns, should aid in the cause of creating
382computer programs that are easier to maintain and has code that is easier (and
383better) understood.
384
740e1b6c 385\section{Notable contributions to the refactoring literature}
4e135659 386\todoin{Update with more contributions}
36d99783 387
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388\begin{description}
389 \item[1992] William F. Opdyke submits his doctoral dissertation called
b5c7bb1b 390 \emph{Refactoring Object-Oriented Frameworks}\citing{opdyke1992}. This
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391 work defines a set of refactorings, that are behavior preserving given that
392 their preconditions are met. The dissertation is focused on the automation
393 of refactorings.
394 \item[1999] Martin Fowler et al.: \emph{Refactoring: Improving the Design of
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395 Existing Code}\citing{refactoring}. This is maybe the most influential text
396 on refactoring. It bares similarities with Opdykes thesis\citing{opdyke1992}
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397 in the way that it provides a catalog of refactorings. But Fowler's book is
398 more about the craft of refactoring, as he focuses on establishing a
399 vocabulary for refactoring, together with the mechanics of different
400 refactorings and when to perform them. His methodology is also founded on
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401 the principles of test-driven development.
402 \item[2005] Joshua Kerievsky: \emph{Refactoring to
403 Patterns}\citing{kerievsky2005}. This book is heavily influenced by Fowler's
a1bafe90 404 \emph{Refactoring}\citing{refactoring} and the ``Gang of Four'' \emph{Design
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405 Patterns}\citing{designPatterns}. It is building on the refactoring
406 catalogue from Fowler's book, but is trying to bridge the gap between
407 \emph{refactoring} and \emph{design patterns} by providing a series of
408 higher-level composite refactorings, that makes code evolve toward or away
409 from certain design patterns. The book is trying to build up the readers
410 intuition around \emph{why} one would want to use a particular design
411 pattern, and not just \emph{how}. The book is encouraging evolutionary
412 design. \See{relationToDesignPatterns}
d21ef41f 413\end{description}
3b7c1d90 414
110dae91 415\section{Tool support (for Java)}\label{toolSupport}
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416This section will briefly compare the refatoring support of the three IDEs
417\emph{Eclipse}\footnote{\url{http://www.eclipse.org/}}, \emph{IntelliJ
418IDEA}\footnote{The IDE under comparison is the \emph{Community Edition},
419\url{http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/}} and
420\emph{NetBeans}\footnote{\url{https://netbeans.org/}}. These are the most
421popular Java IDEs\citing{javaReport2011}.
422
423All three IDEs provide support for the most useful refactorings, like the
424different extract, move and rename refactorings. In fact, Java-targeted IDEs are
425known for their good refactoring support, so this did not appear as a big
426surprise.
427
428The IDEs seem to have excellent support for the \ExtractMethod refactoring, so
429at least they have all passed the first refactoring
430rubicon\citing{fowlerRubicon2001,secondRubicon2012}.
431
432Regarding the \MoveMethod refactoring, the \emph{Eclipse} and \emph{IntelliJ}
433IDEs do the job in very similar manners. In most situations they both do a
434satisfying job by producing the expected outcome. But they do nothing to check
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435that the result does not break the semantics of the program \see{correctness}.
436The \emph{NetBeans} IDE implements this refactoring in a somewhat
437unsophisticated way. For starters, its default destination for the move is
438itself, although it refuses to perform the refactoring if chosen. But the worst
347ed677 439part is, that if moving the method \method{f} of the class \type{C} to the class
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440\type{X}, it will break the code. The result is shown in
441\myref{lst:moveMethod_NetBeans}.
4e135659 442
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443\begin{listing}
444\begin{multicols}{2}
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445\begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
446public class C {
447 private X x;
448 ...
449 public void f() {
450 x.m();
451 x.n();
452 }
453}
454\end{minted}
455
347ed677 456\columnbreak
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457
458\begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
459public class X {
460 ...
461 public void f(C c) {
462 c.x.m();
463 c.x.n();
464 }
465}
466\end{minted}
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467\end{multicols}
468\caption{Moving method \method{f} from \type{C} to \type{X}.}
469\label{lst:moveMethod_NetBeans}
470\end{listing}
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471
472NetBeans will try to make code that call the methods \method{m} and \method{n}
473of \type{X} by accessing them through \var{c.x}, where \var{c} is a parameter of
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474type \type{C} that is added the method \method{f} when it is moved. (This is
475seldom the desired outcome of this refactoring, but ironically, this ``feature''
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476keeps NetBeans from breaking the code in the example from \myref{correctness}.)
477If \var{c.x} for some reason is inaccessible to \type{X}, as in this case, the
478refactoring breaks the code, and it will not compile. NetBeans presents a
479preview of the refactoring outcome, but the preview does not catch it if the IDE
480is about break the program.
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481
482The IDEs under investigation seems to have fairly good support for primitive
483refactorings, but what about more complex ones, such as the \refactoring{Extract
484Class}\citing{refactoring}? The \refactoring{Extract Class} refactoring works by
485creating a class, for then to move members to that class and access them from
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486the old class via a reference to the new class. \emph{IntelliJ} handles this in
487a fairly good manner, although, in the case of private methods, it leaves unused
488methods behind. These are methods that delegate to a field with the type of the
4778044b 489new class, but are not used anywhere. \emph{Eclipse} has added (or withdrawn)
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490its own quirk to the Extract Class refactoring, and only allows for
491\emph{fields} to be moved to a new class, \emph{not methods}. This makes it
492effectively only extracting a data structure, and calling it
493\refactoring{Extract Class} is a little misleading. One would often be better
494off with textual extract and paste than using the Extract Class refactoring in
495Eclipse. When it comes to \emph{NetBeans}, it does not even seem to have made an
496attempt on providing this refactoring. (Well, it probably has, but it does not
497show in the IDE.)
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498
499\todoin{Visual Studio (C++/C\#), Smalltalk refactoring browser?,
4e135659 500second refactoring rubicon?}
3b7c1d90 501
36d99783 502\section{The relation to design patterns}\label{relationToDesignPatterns}
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503
504\emph{Refactoring} and \emph{design patterns} have at least one thing in common,
505they are both promoted by advocates of \emph{clean code}\citing{cleanCode} as
506fundamental tools on the road to more maintanable and extendable source code.
507
508\begin{quote}
509 Design patterns help you determine how to reorganize a design, and they can
510 reduce the amount of refactoring you need to do
511 later.~\cite[p.~353]{designPatterns}
512\end{quote}
513
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514Although sometimes associated with
515over-engineering\citing{kerievsky2005,refactoring}, design patterns are in
516general assumed to be good for maintainability of source code. That may be
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517because many of them are designed to support the \emph{open/closed principle} of
518object-oriented programming. The principle was first formulated by Bertrand
519Meyer, the creator of the Eiffel programming language, like this: ``Modules
520should be both open and closed.''\citing{meyer1988} It has been popularized,
521with this as a common version:
522
523\begin{quote}
524 Software entities (classes, modules, functions, etc.) should be open for
525 extension, but closed for modification.\footnote{See
526 \url{http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?OpenClosedPrinciple} or
527 \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open/closed_principle}}
528\end{quote}
529
530Maintainability is often thought of as the ability to be able to introduce new
a1bafe90 531functionality without having to change too much of the old code. When
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532refactoring, the motivation is often to facilitate adding new functionality. It
533is about factoring the old code in a way that makes the new functionality being
534able to benefit from the functionality already residing in a software system,
535without having to copy old code into new. Then, next time someone shall add new
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536functionality, it is less likely that the old code has to change. Assuming that
537a design pattern is the best way to get rid of duplication and assist in
538implementing new functionality, it is reasonable to conclude that a design
539pattern often is the target of a series of refactorings. Having a repertoire of
540design patterns can also help in knowing when and how to refactor a program to
541make it reflect certain desired characteristics.
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542
543\begin{quote}
a1bafe90 544 There is a natural relation between patterns and refactorings. Patterns are
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545 where you want to be; refactorings are ways to get there from somewhere
546 else.~\cite[p.~107]{refactoring}
547\end{quote}
548
549This quote is wise in many contexts, but it is not always appropriate to say
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550``Patterns are where you want to be\ldots''. \emph{Sometimes}, patterns are
551where you want to be, but only because it will benefit your design. It is not
552true that one should always try to incorporate as many design patterns as
553possible into a program. It is not like they have intrinsic value. They only add
554value to a system when they support its design. Otherwise, the use of design
555patterns may only lead to a program that is more complex than necessary.
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556
557\begin{quote}
558 The overuse of patterns tends to result from being patterns happy. We are
559 \emph{patterns happy} when we become so enamored of patterns that we simply
560 must use them in our code.~\cite[p.~24]{kerievsky2005}
561\end{quote}
562
563This can easily happen when relying largely on up-front design. Then it is
564natural, in the very beginning, to try to build in all the flexibility that one
565believes will be necessary throughout the lifetime of a software system.
566According to Joshua Kerievsky ``That sounds reasonable --- if you happen to be
567psychic.''~\cite[p.~1]{kerievsky2005} He is advocating what he believes is a
568better approach: To let software continually evolve. To start with a simple
569design that meets today's needs, and tackle future needs by refactoring to
570satisfy them. He believes that this is a more economic approach than investing
571time and money into a design that inevitably is going to change. By relying on
572continuously refactoring a system, its design can be made simpler without
573sacrificing flexibility. To be able to fully rely on this approach, it is of
574utter importance to have a reliable suit of tests to lean on. \See{testing} This
575makes the design process more natural and less characterized by difficult
576decisions that has to be made before proceeding in the process, and that is
577going to define a project for all of its unforeseeable future.
578
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579\begin{comment}
580
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581\section{Classification of refactorings}
582% only interesting refactorings
583% with 2 detailed examples? One for structured and one for intra-method?
584% Is replacing Bubblesort with Quick Sort considered a refactoring?
585
586\subsection{Structural refactorings}
587
f65da046 588\subsubsection{Primitive refactorings}
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589
590% Composing Methods
591\explanation{Extract Method}{You have a code fragment that can be grouped
592together.}{Turn the fragment into a method whose name explains the purpose of
593the method.}
594
595\explanation{Inline Method}{A method's body is just as clear as its name.}{Put
596the method's body into the body of its callers and remove the method.}
597
598\explanation{Inline Temp}{You have a temp that is assigned to once with a simple
599expression, and the temp is getting in the way of other refactorings.}{Replace
600all references to that temp with the expression}
601
602% Moving Features Between Objects
603\explanation{Move Method}{A method is, or will be, using or used by more
604features of another class than the class on which it is defined.}{Create a new
605method with a similar body in the class it uses most. Either turn the old method
606into a simple delegation, or remove it altogether.}
607
608\explanation{Move Field}{A field is, or will be, used by another class more than
609the class on which it is defined}{Create a new field in the target class, and
610change all its users.}
611
612% Organizing Data
613\explanation{Replace Magic Number with Symbolic Constant}{You have a literal
614number with a particular meaning.}{Create a constant, name it after the meaning,
615and replace the number with it.}
616
617\explanation{Encapsulate Field}{There is a public field.}{Make it private and
618provide accessors.}
619
620\explanation{Replace Type Code with Class}{A class has a numeric type code that
8fae7b44 621does not affect its behavior.}{Replace the number with a new class.}
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622
623\explanation{Replace Type Code with Subclasses}{You have an immutable type code
8fae7b44 624that affects the behavior of a class.}{Replace the type code with subclasses.}
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625
626\explanation{Replace Type Code with State/Strategy}{You have a type code that
8fae7b44 627affects the behavior of a class, but you cannot use subclassing.}{Replace the
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628type code with a state object.}
629
630% Simplifying Conditional Expressions
631\explanation{Consolidate Duplicate Conditional Fragments}{The same fragment of
8fae7b44 632code is in all branches of a conditional expression.}{Move it outside of the
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633expression.}
634
635\explanation{Remove Control Flag}{You have a variable that is acting as a
636control flag fro a series of boolean expressions.}{Use a break or return
637instead.}
638
639\explanation{Replace Nested Conditional with Guard Clauses}{A method has
8fae7b44 640conditional behavior that does not make clear the normal path of
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641execution.}{Use guard clauses for all special cases.}
642
8fae7b44 643\explanation{Introduce Null Object}{You have repeated checks for a null
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644value.}{Replace the null value with a null object.}
645
646\explanation{Introduce Assertion}{A section of code assumes something about the
647state of the program.}{Make the assumption explicit with an assertion.}
648
649% Making Method Calls Simpler
650\explanation{Rename Method}{The name of a method does not reveal its
651purpose.}{Change the name of the method}
652
653\explanation{Add Parameter}{A method needs more information from its
654caller.}{Add a parameter for an object that can pass on this information.}
655
656\explanation{Remove Parameter}{A parameter is no longer used by the method
657body.}{Remove it.}
658
659%\explanation{Parameterize Method}{Several methods do similar things but with
660%different values contained in the method.}{Create one method that uses a
661%parameter for the different values.}
662
663\explanation{Preserve Whole Object}{You are getting several values from an
664object and passing these values as parameters in a method call.}{Send the whole
665object instead.}
666
667\explanation{Remove Setting Method}{A field should be set at creation time and
668never altered.}{Remove any setting method for that field.}
669
670\explanation{Hide Method}{A method is not used by any other class.}{Make the
671method private.}
672
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673\explanation{Replace Constructor with Factory Method}{You want to do more than
674simple construction when you create an object}{Replace the constructor with a
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675factory method.}
676
677% Dealing with Generalization
8fae7b44 678\explanation{Pull Up Field}{Two subclasses have the same field.}{Move the field
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679to the superclass.}
680
681\explanation{Pull Up Method}{You have methods with identical results on
682subclasses.}{Move them to the superclass.}
683
8fae7b44 684\explanation{Push Down Method}{Behavior on a superclass is relevant only for
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685some of its subclasses.}{Move it to those subclasses.}
686
687\explanation{Push Down Field}{A field is used only by some subclasses.}{Move the
688field to those subclasses}
689
690\explanation{Extract Interface}{Several clients use the same subset of a class's
8fae7b44 691interface, or two classes have part of their interfaces in common.}{Extract the
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692subset into an interface.}
693
694\explanation{Replace Inheritance with Delegation}{A subclass uses only part of a
695superclasses interface or does not want to inherit data.}{Create a field for the
696superclass, adjust methods to delegate to the superclass, and remove the
697subclassing.}
698
699\explanation{Replace Delegation with Inheritance}{You're using delegation and
700are often writing many simple delegations for the entire interface}{Make the
701delegating class a subclass of the delegate.}
702
703\subsubsection{Composite refactorings}
704
705% Composing Methods
706% \explanation{Replace Method with Method Object}{}{}
707
708% Moving Features Between Objects
709\explanation{Extract Class}{You have one class doing work that should be done by
710two}{Create a new class and move the relevant fields and methods from the old
711class into the new class.}
712
713\explanation{Inline Class}{A class isn't doing very much.}{Move all its features
714into another class and delete it.}
715
716\explanation{Hide Delegate}{A client is calling a delegate class of an
717object.}{Create Methods on the server to hide the delegate.}
718
719\explanation{Remove Middle Man}{A class is doing to much simple delegation.}{Get
720the client to call the delegate directly.}
721
722% Organizing Data
723\explanation{Replace Data Value with Object}{You have a data item that needs
8fae7b44 724additional data or behavior.}{Turn the data item into an object.}
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725
726\explanation{Change Value to Reference}{You have a class with many equal
727instances that you want to replace with a single object.}{Turn the object into a
728reference object.}
729
730\explanation{Encapsulate Collection}{A method returns a collection}{Make it
8fae7b44 731return a read-only view and provide add/remove methods.}
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732
733% \explanation{Replace Array with Object}{}{}
734
735\explanation{Replace Subclass with Fields}{You have subclasses that vary only in
736methods that return constant data.}{Change the methods to superclass fields and
737eliminate the subclasses.}
738
739% Simplifying Conditional Expressions
740\explanation{Decompose Conditional}{You have a complicated conditional
741(if-then-else) statement.}{Extract methods from the condition, then part, an
742else part.}
743
744\explanation{Consolidate Conditional Expression}{You have a sequence of
745conditional tests with the same result.}{Combine them into a single conditional
746expression and extract it.}
747
748\explanation{Replace Conditional with Polymorphism}{You have a conditional that
8fae7b44 749chooses different behavior depending on the type of an object.}{Move each leg
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750of the conditional to an overriding method in a subclass. Make the original
751method abstract.}
752
753% Making Method Calls Simpler
754\explanation{Replace Parameter with Method}{An object invokes a method, then
755passes the result as a parameter for a method. The receiver can also invoke this
756method.}{Remove the parameter and let the receiver invoke the method.}
757
758\explanation{Introduce Parameter Object}{You have a group of parameters that
759naturally go together.}{Replace them with an object.}
760
761% Dealing with Generalization
762\explanation{Extract Subclass}{A class has features that are used only in some
763instances.}{Create a subclass for that subset of features.}
764
765\explanation{Extract Superclass}{You have two classes with similar
766features.}{Create a superclass and move the common features to the
767superclass.}
768
769\explanation{Collapse Hierarchy}{A superclass and subclass are not very
770different.}{Merge them together.}
771
772\explanation{Form Template Method}{You have two methods in subclasses that
773perform similar steps in the same order, yet the steps are different.}{Get the
774steps into methods with the same signature, so that the original methods become
775the same. Then you can pull them up.}
776
777
778\subsection{Functional refactorings}
779
780\explanation{Substitute Algorithm}{You want to replace an algorithm with one
781that is clearer.}{Replace the body of the method with the new algorithm.}
00aa0588 782
b289552b 783\end{comment}
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784
785\section{The impact on software quality}
786
a1bafe90 787\subsection{What is software quality?}
00aa0588 788The term \emph{software quality} has many meanings. It all depends on the
9a55a5bc 789context we put it in. If we look at it with the eyes of a software developer, it
a1bafe90 790usually means that the software is easily maintainable and testable, or in other
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791words, that it is \emph{well designed}. This often correlates with the
792management scale, where \emph{keeping the schedule} and \emph{customer
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793satisfaction} is at the center. From the customers point of view, in addition to
794good usability, \emph{performance} and \emph{lack of bugs} is always
795appreciated, measurements that are also shared by the software developer. (In
796addition, such things as good documentation could be measured, but this is out
797of the scope of this document.)
9a55a5bc 798
00aa0588 799\subsection{The impact on performance}
9a55a5bc 800\begin{quote}
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801 Refactoring certainly will make software go more slowly\footnote{With todays
802 compiler optimization techniques and performance tuning of e.g. the Java
803virtual machine, the penalties of object creation and method calls are
804debatable.}, but it also makes the software more amenable to performance
805tuning.~\cite[p.~69]{refactoring}
9a55a5bc 806\end{quote}
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807
808\noindent There is a common belief that refactoring compromises performance, due
809to increased degree of indirection and that polymorphism is slower than
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810conditionals.
811
b5c7bb1b 812In a survey, Demeyer\citing{demeyer2002} disproves this view in the case of
a1bafe90 813polymorphism. He did an experiment on, what he calls, ``Transform Self Type
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814Checks'' where you introduce a new polymorphic method and a new class hierarchy
815to get rid of a class' type checking of a ``type attribute``. He uses this kind
816of transformation to represent other ways of replacing conditionals with
817polymorphism as well. The experiment is performed on the C++ programming
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818language and with three different compilers and platforms. Demeyer concludes
819that, with compiler optimization turned on, polymorphism beats middle to large
820sized if-statements and does as well as case-statements. (In accordance with
821his hypothesis, due to similarities between the way C++ handles polymorphism and
822case-statements.)
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824\begin{quote}
825 The interesting thing about performance is that if you analyze most programs,
b5c7bb1b 826 you find that they waste most of their time in a small fraction of the
4cb06723 827 code.~\cite[p.~70]{refactoring}
9a55a5bc 828\end{quote}
9a55a5bc 829
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830\noindent So, although an increased amount of method calls could potentially
831slow down programs, one should avoid premature optimization and sacrificing good
832design, leaving the performance tuning until after profiling\footnote{For and
833 example of a Java profiler, check out VisualVM:
834 \url{http://visualvm.java.net/}} the software and having isolated the actual
835 problem areas.
00aa0588 836
0d7fbd88 837\section{Composite refactorings}\label{compositeRefactorings}
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838\todo{motivation, examples, manual vs automated?, what about refactoring in a
839very large code base?}
6065c96c 840Generally, when thinking about refactoring, at the mechanical level, there are
f65da046 841essentially two kinds of refactorings. There are the \emph{primitive}
a1bafe90 842refactorings, and the \emph{composite} refactorings.
6065c96c 843
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844\definition{A \emph{primitive refactoring} is a refactoring that cannot be
845expressed in terms of other refactorings.}
f65da046 846
b5c7bb1b 847\noindent Examples are the \refactoring{Pull Up Field} and \refactoring{Pull Up
a1bafe90 848Method} refactorings\citing{refactoring}, that move members up in their class
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849hierarchies.
850
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851\definition{A \emph{composite refactoring} is a refactoring that can be
852expressed in terms of two or more other refactorings.}
f65da046 853
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854\noindent An example of a composite refactoring is the \refactoring{Extract
855Superclass} refactoring\citing{refactoring}. In its simplest form, it is composed
856of the previously described primitive refactorings, in addition to the
857\refactoring{Pull Up Constructor Body} refactoring\citing{refactoring}. It works
858by creating an abstract superclass that the target class(es) inherits from, then
859by applying \refactoring{Pull Up Field}, \refactoring{Pull Up Method} and
860\refactoring{Pull Up Constructor Body} on the members that are to be members of
861the new superclass. For an overview of the \refactoring{Extract Superclass}
8b6b22c8 862refactoring, see \myref{fig:extractSuperclass}.
6065c96c 863
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864\begin{figure}[h]
865 \centering
faa9f4f3 866 \includegraphics[angle=270,width=\linewidth]{extractSuperclassItalic.pdf}
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867 \caption{The Extract Superclass refactoring}
868 \label{fig:extractSuperclass}
869\end{figure}
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870
871\section{Manual vs. automated refactorings}
0d7fbd88 872Refactoring is something every programmer does, even if \heshe does not known
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873the term \emph{refactoring}. Every refinement of source code that does not alter
874the program's behavior is a refactoring. For small refactorings, such as
0d7fbd88 875\ExtractMethod, executing it manually is a manageable task, but is still prone
a1bafe90 876to errors. Getting it right the first time is not easy, considering the method
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877signature and all the other aspects of the refactoring that has to be in place.
878
879Take for instance the renaming of classes, methods and fields. For complex
880programs these refactorings are almost impossible to get right. Attacking them
881with textual search and replace, or even regular expressions, will fall short on
882these tasks. Then it is crucial to have proper tool support that can perform
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883them automatically. Tools that can parse source code and thus have semantic
884knowledge about which occurrences of which names belong to what construct in the
885program. For even trying to perform one of these complex task manually, one
886would have to be very confident on the existing test suite \see{testing}.
00aa0588 887
19c4f27d 888\section{Correctness of refactorings}\label{correctness}
f65da046 889For automated refactorings to be truly useful, they must show a high degree of
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890behavior preservation. This last sentence might seem obvious, but there are
891examples of refactorings in existing tools that break programs. I will now
892present an example of an \ExtractMethod refactoring followed by a \MoveMethod
893refactoring that breaks a program in both the \emph{Eclipse} and \emph{IntelliJ}
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894IDEs\footnote{The NetBeans IDE handles this particular situation without
895 altering ther program's beavior, mainly because its Move Method refactoring
896 implementation is a bit rancid in other ways \see{toolSupport}.}. The
897 following piece of code shows the target for the composed refactoring:
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898
899\begin{minted}[linenos,samepage]{java}
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900public class C {
901 public X x = new X();
ee45c41f 902
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903 public void f() {
904 x.m(this);
905 x.n();
906 }
907}
908\end{minted}
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909
910\noindent The next piece of code shows the destination of the refactoring. Note
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911that the method \method{m(C c)} of class \type{C} assigns to the field \var{x}
912of the argument \var{c} that has type \type{C}:
ee45c41f 913
4e135659 914\begin{minted}[samepage]{java}
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915public class X {
916 public void m(C c) {
917 c.x = new X();
918 }
919 public void n() {}
920}
921\end{minted}
922
923The refactoring sequence works by extracting line 5 and 6 from the original
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924class \type{C} into a method \method{f} with the statements from those lines as
925its method body. The method is then moved to the class \type{X}. The result is
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926shown in the following two pieces of code:
927
4e135659 928\begin{minted}[linenos,samepage]{java}
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929public class C {
930 public X x = new X();
931
932 public void f() {
933 x.f(this);
934 }
935}
936\end{minted}
937
4e135659 938\begin{minted}[linenos,samepage]{java}
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939public class X {
940 public void m(C c) {
941 c.x = new X();
942 }
943 public void n() {}
944 public void f(C c) {
945 m(c);
946 n();
947 }
948}
949\end{minted}
950
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951After the refactoring, the method \method{f} of class \type{C} is calling the
952method \method{f} of class \type{X}, and the program now behaves different than
953before. (See line 5 of the version of class \type{C} after the refactoring.)
954Before the refactoring, the methods \method{m} and \method{n} of class \type{X}
955are called on different object instances (see line 5 and 6 of the original class
956\type{C}). After, they are called on the same object, and the statement on line
9573 of class \type{X} (the version after the refactoring) no longer have any
958 effect in our example.
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960The bug introduced in the previous example is of such a nature\footnote{Caused
961 by aliasing. See \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliasing_(computing)}}
962 that it is very difficult to spot if the refactored code is not covered by
963 tests. It does not generate compilation errors, and will thus only result in
964 a runtime error or corrupted data, which might be hard to detect.
19c4f27d 965
29f39f29 966\section{Refactoring and the importance of testing}\label{testing}
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967\begin{quote}
968 If you want to refactor, the essential precondition is having solid
969 tests.\citing{refactoring}
970\end{quote}
971
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972When refactoring, there are roughly three classes of errors that can be made.
973The first class of errors are the ones that make the code unable to compile.
974These \emph{compile-time} errors are of the nicer kind. They flash up at the
975moment they are made (at least when using an IDE), and are usually easy to fix.
976The second class are the \emph{runtime} errors. Although they take a bit longer
977to surface, they usually manifest after some time in an illegal argument
978exception, null pointer exception or similar during the program execution.
979These kind of errors are a bit harder to handle, but at least they will show,
980eventually. Then there are the \emph{behavior-changing} errors. These errors are
981of the worst kind. They do not show up during compilation and they do not turn
982on a blinking red light during runtime either. The program can seem to work
983perfectly fine with them in play, but the business logic can be damaged in ways
984that will only show up over time.
985
986For discovering runtime errors and behavior changes when refactoring, it is
987essential to have good test coverage. Testing in this context means writing
988automated tests. Manual testing may have its uses, but when refactoring, it is
989automated unit testing that dominate. For discovering behavior changes it is
990especially important to have tests that cover potential problems, since these
991kind of errors does not reveal themselves.
992
993Unit testing is not a way to \emph{prove} that a program is correct, but it is a
994way to make you confindent that it \emph{probably} works as desired. In the
995context of test driven development (commonly known as TDD), the tests are even a
996way to define how the program is \emph{supposed} to work. It is then, by
997definition, working if the tests are passing.
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998
999If the test coverage for a code base is perfect, then it should, theoretically,
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1000be risk-free to perform refactorings on it. This is why automated tests and
1001refactoring are such a great match.
f65da046 1002
b5d53f51 1003\subsection{Testing the code from correctness section}
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1004The worst thing that can happen when refactoring is to introduce changes to the
1005behavior of a program, as in the example on \myref{correctness}. This example
1006may be trivial, but the essence is clear. The only problem with the example is
1007that it is not clear how to create automated tests for it, without changing it
1008in intrusive ways.
1009
1010Unit tests, as they are known from the different xUnit frameworks around, are
1011only suitable to test the \emph{result} of isolated operations. They can not
1012easily (if at all) observe the \emph{history} of a program.
b5d53f51 1013
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1014
1015\todoin{Write \ldots}
1016
1017Assuming a sequential (non-concurrent) program:
1018
1019\begin{minted}{java}
1020tracematch (C c, X x) {
1021 sym m before:
1022 call(* X.m(C)) && args(c) && cflow(within(C));
1023 sym n before:
1024 call(* X.n()) && target(x) && cflow(within(C));
1025 sym setCx after:
1026 set(C.x) && target(c) && !cflow(m);
1027
1028 m n
1029
1030 { assert x == c.x; }
1031}
1032\end{minted}
1033
1034%\begin{minted}{java}
1035%tracematch (X x1, X x2) {
1036% sym m before:
1037% call(* X.m(C)) && target(x1);
1038% sym n before:
1039% call(* X.n()) && target(x2);
1040% sym setX after:
1041% set(C.x) && !cflow(m) && !cflow(n);
1042%
1043% m n
1044%
1045% { assert x1 != x2; }
1046%}
1047%\end{minted}
1048
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1049\section{The project}
1050The aim of this project will be to investigate the relationship between a
1051composite refactoring composed of the \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod
1052refactorings, and its impact on one or more software metrics.
1053
1054The composition of \ExtractMethod and \MoveMethod springs naturally out of the
1055need to move procedures closer to the data they manipulate. This composed
1056refactoring is not well described in the literature, but it is implemented in at
1057least one tool called
1058\emph{CodeRush}\footnote{\url{https://help.devexpress.com/\#CodeRush/CustomDocument3519}},
1059that is an extension for \emph{MS Visual
1060Studio}\footnote{\url{http://www.visualstudio.com/}}. In CodeRush it is called
1061\emph{Extract Method to
1062Type}\footnote{\url{https://help.devexpress.com/\#CodeRush/CustomDocument6710}},
1063but I choose to call it \ExtractAndMoveMethod, since I feel it better
1064communicates which primitive refactorings it is composed of.
1065
1066For the metrics, I will at least measure the \emph{Coupling between object
1067classes} (CBO) metric that is described by Chidamber and Kemerer in their
1068article \emph{A Metrics Suite for Object Oriented
1069Design}\citing{metricsSuite1994}.
1070
1071The project will then consist in implementing the \ExtractAndMoveMethod
1072refactoring, as well as executing it over a larger code base. Then the effect of
1073the change must be measured by calculating the chosen software metrics both
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1074before and after the execution. To be able to execute the refactoring
1075automatically I have to make it analyze code to determine the best selections to
1076extract into new methods.
b5d53f51 1077
f65da046 1078\section{Software metrics}
d1adbeef 1079\todoin{Is this the appropriate place to have this section?}
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1080
1081%\part{The project}
1082%\chapter{Planning the project}
1083%\part{Conclusion}
1084%\chapter{Results}
1085
b0e80574 1086
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1087
1088\chapter{\ldots}
4e135659 1089\todoin{write}
3b7c1d90 1090\section{The problem statement}
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1091\section{Choosing the target language}
1092Choosing which programming language to use as the target for manipulation is not
a1bafe90 1093a very difficult task. The language has to be an object-oriented programming
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1094language, and it must have existing tool support for refactoring. The
1095\emph{Java} programming language\footnote{\url{https://www.java.com/}} is the
1096dominating language when it comes to examples in the literature of refactoring,
1097and is thus a natural choice. Java is perhaps, currently the most influential
1098programming language in the world, with its \emph{Java Virtual Machine} that
1099runs on all of the most popular architectures and also supports\footnote{They
1100compile to java bytecode.} dozens of other programming languages, with
1101\emph{Scala}, \emph{Clojure} and \emph{Groovy} as the most prominent ones. Java
1102is currently the language that every other programming language is compared
1103against. It is also the primary language of the author of this thesis.
1104
1105\section{Choosing the tools}
1106When choosing a tool for manipulating Java, there are certain criterias that
1107have to be met. First of all, the tool should have some existing refactoring
1108support that this thesis can build upon. Secondly it should provide some kind of
1109framework for parsing and analyzing Java source code. Third, it should itself be
1110open source. This is both because of the need to be able to browse the code for
1111the existing refactorings that is contained in the tool, and also because open
1112source projects hold value in them selves. Another important aspect to consider
1113is that open source projects of a certain size, usually has large communities of
1114people connected to them, that are commited to answering questions regarding the
1115use and misuse of the products, that to a large degree is made by the cummunity
1116itself.
1117
1118There is a certain class of tools that meet these criterias, namely the class of
1119\emph{IDEs}\footnote{\emph{Integrated Development Environment}}. These are
1120proagrams that is ment to support the whole production cycle of a cumputer
1121program, and the most popular IDEs that support Java, generally have quite good
1122refactoring support.
1123
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1124The main contenders for this thesis is the \emph{Eclipse IDE}, with the
1125\emph{Java development tools} (JDT), the \emph{IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition}
1126and the \emph{NetBeans IDE}. \See{toolSupport} Eclipse and NetBeans are both
1127free, open source and community driven, while the IntelliJ IDEA has an open
1128sourced community edition that is free of charge, but also offer an
1129\emph{Ultimate Edition} with an extended set of features, at additional cost.
1130All three IDEs supports adding plugins to extend their functionality and tools
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1131that can be used to parse and analyze Java source code. But one of the IDEs
1132stand out as a favorite, and that is the \emph{Eclipse IDE}. This is the most
1133popular\citing{javaReport2011} among them and seems to be de facto standard IDE
1134for Java development regardless of platform.
4e135659 1135
3b7c1d90 1136
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1137\chapter{Refactorings in Eclipse JDT: Design, Shortcomings and Wishful
1138Thinking}\label{ch:jdt_refactorings}
1139
1140This chapter will deal with some of the design behind refactoring support in
1141Eclipse, and the JDT in specific. After which it will follow a section about
1142shortcomings of the refactoring API in terms of composition of refactorings. The
1143chapter will be concluded with a section telling some of the ways the
1144implementation of refactorings in the JDT could have worked to facilitate
1145composition of refactorings.
055dca93 1146
b0e80574 1147\section{Design}
f041551b 1148The refactoring world of Eclipse can in general be separated into two parts: The
b289552b 1149language independent part and the part written for a specific programming
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1150language -- the language that is the target of the supported refactorings.
1151\todo{What about the language specific part?}
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1152
1153\subsection{The Language Toolkit}
1154The Language Toolkit, or LTK for short, is the framework that is used to
1155implement refactorings in Eclipse. It is language independent and provides the
1156abstractions of a refactoring and the change it generates, in the form of the
1157classes \typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Refactoring} and
1158\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Change}. (There is also parts of
1159the LTK that is concerned with user interaction, but they will not be discussed
1160here, since they are of little value to us and our use of the framework.)
1161
1162\subsubsection{The Refactoring Class}
1163The abstract class \type{Refactoring} is the core of the LTK framework. Every
1164refactoring that is going to be supported by the LTK have to end up creating an
1165instance of one of its subclasses. The main responsibilities of subclasses of
1166\type{Refactoring} is to implement template methods for condition checking
1167(\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{checkInitialConditions}
1168and
1169\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{checkFinalConditions}),
1170in addition to the
1171\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Refactoring}{createChange}
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1172method that creates and returns an instance of the \type{Change} class.
1173
1174If the refactoring shall support that others participate in it when it is
1175executed, the refactoring has to be a processor-based
1176refactoring\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants.ProcessorBasedRefactoring}.
1177It then delegates to its given
1178\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{RefactoringProcessor}
1179for condition checking and change creation.
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1180
1181\subsubsection{The Change Class}
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1182This class is the base class for objects that is responsible for performing the
1183actual workspace transformations in a refactoring. The main responsibilities for
1184its subclasses is to implement the
1185\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change}{perform} and
1186\methodwithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change}{isValid} methods. The
1187\method{isValid} method verifies that the change object is valid and thus can be
1188executed by calling its \method{perform} method. The \method{perform} method
1189performs the desired change and returns an undo change that can be executed to
1190reverse the effect of the transformation done by its originating change object.
1191
61420ef7 1192\subsubsection{Executing a Refactoring}\label{executing_refactoring}
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1193The life cycle of a refactoring generally follows two steps after creation:
1194condition checking and change creation. By letting the refactoring object be
1195handled by a
1196\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{CheckConditionsOperation} that
1197in turn is handled by a
1198\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{CreateChangeOperation}, it is
1199assured that the change creation process is managed in a proper manner.
1200
1201The actual execution of a change object has to follow a detailed life cycle.
1202This life cycle is honored if the \type{CreateChangeOperation} is handled by a
1203\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{PerformChangeOperation}. If also
1204an undo manager\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager} is set
1205for the \type{PerformChangeOperation}, the undo change is added into the undo
1206history.
055dca93 1207
b0e80574 1208\section{Shortcomings}
80663734 1209This section is introduced naturally with a conclusion: The JDT refactoring
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1210implementation does not facilitate composition of refactorings.
1211\todo{refine}This section will try to explain why, and also identify other
1212shortcomings of both the usability and the readability of the JDT refactoring
1213source code.
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1214
1215I will begin at the end and work my way toward the composition part of this
1216section.
1217
5837a41f 1218\subsection{Absence of Generics in Eclipse Source Code}
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1219This section is not only concerning the JDT refactoring API, but also large
1220quantities of the Eclipse source code. The code shows a striking absence of the
1221Java language feature of generics. It is hard to read a class' interface when
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1222methods return objects or takes parameters of raw types such as \type{List} or
1223\type{Map}. This sometimes results in having to read a lot of source code to
1224understand what is going on, instead of relying on the available interfaces. In
1225addition, it results in a lot of ugly code, making the use of typecasting more
1226of a rule than an exception.
1227
1228\subsection{Composite Refactorings Will Not Appear as Atomic Actions}
1229
1230\subsubsection{Missing Flexibility from JDT Refactorings}
1231The JDT refactorings are not made with composition of refactorings in mind. When
1232a JDT refactoring is executed, it assumes that all conditions for it to be
1233applied successfully can be found by reading source files that has been
1234persisted to disk. They can only operate on the actual source material, and not
1235(in-memory) copies thereof. This constitutes a major disadvantage when trying to
1236compose refactorings, since if an exception occur in the middle of a sequence of
1237refactorings, it can leave the project in a state where the composite
1238refactoring was executed only partly. It makes it hard to discard the changes
1239done without monitoring and consulting the undo manager, an approach that is not
1240bullet proof.
1241
1242\subsubsection{Broken Undo History}
1243When designing a composed refactoring that is to be performed as a sequence of
1244refactorings, you would like it to appear as a single change to the workspace.
1245This implies that you would also like to be able to undo all the changes done by
1246the refactoring in a single step. This is not the way it appears when a sequence
1247of JDT refactorings is executed. It leaves the undo history filled up with
1248individual undo actions corresponding to every single JDT refactoring in the
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1249sequence. This problem is not trivial to handle in Eclipse.
1250\See{hacking_undo_history}
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1251
1252\section{Wishful Thinking}
3727b75b 1253\todoin{???}
80663734 1254
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1255\chapter{Composite Refactorings in Eclipse}
1256
1257\section{A Simple Ad Hoc Model}
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1258As pointed out in \myref{ch:jdt_refactorings}, the Eclipse JDT refactoring model
1259is not very well suited for making composite refactorings. Therefore a simple
1260model using changer objects (of type \type{RefaktorChanger}) is used as an
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1261abstraction layer on top of the existing Eclipse refactorings, instead of
1262extending the \typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Refactoring} class.
1263
1264The use of an additional abstraction layer is a deliberate choice. It is due to
1265the problem of creating a composite
1266\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring}{Change} that can handle text
1267changes that interfere with each other. Thus, a \type{RefaktorChanger} may, or
1268may not, take advantage of one or more existing refactorings, but it is always
1269intended to make a change to the workspace.
1270
1271\subsection{A typical \type{RefaktorChanger}}
1272The typical refaktor changer class has two responsibilities, checking
1273preconditions and executing the requested changes. This is not too different
1274from the responsibilities of an LTK refactoring, with the distinction that a
1275refaktor changer also executes the change, while an LTK refactoring is only
1276responsible for creating the object that can later be used to do the job.
1277
1278Checking of preconditions is typically done by an
1279\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{Analyzer}. If the
1280preconditions validate, the upcoming changes are executed by an
1281\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{Executor}.
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1282
1283\section{The Extract and Move Method Refactoring}
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1284%The Extract and Move Method Refactoring is implemented mainly using these
1285%classes:
1286%\begin{itemize}
1287% \item \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
1288% \item \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodPrefixesExtractor}
1289% \item \type{Prefix}
1290% \item \type{PrefixSet}
1291%\end{itemize}
1292
1293\subsection{The Building Blocks}
1294This is a composite refactoring, and hence is built up using several primitive
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1295refactorings. These basic building blocks are, as its name implies, the
1296\ExtractMethod refactoring\citing{refactoring} and the \MoveMethod
1297refactoring\citing{refactoring}. In Eclipse, the implementations of these
1298refactorings are found in the classes
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1299\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.code}{ExtractMethodRefactoring}
1300and
1301\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.structure}{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor},
1302where the last class is designed to be used together with the processor-based
1303\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{MoveRefactoring}.
1304
1305\subsubsection{The ExtractMethodRefactoring Class}
1306This class is quite simple in its use. The only parameters it requires for
1307construction is a compilation
1308unit\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.ICompilationUnit}, the offset into the source
1309code where the extraction shall start, and the length of the source to be
1310extracted. Then you have to set the method name for the new method together with
50954fde 1311its visibility and some not so interesting parameters.
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1312
1313\subsubsection{The MoveInstanceMethodProcessor Class}
50954fde 1314For the Move Method, the processor requires a little more advanced input than
61420ef7 1315the class for the Extract Method. For construction it requires a method
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1316handle\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.IMethod} for the method that is to be moved.
1317Then the target for the move have to be supplied as the variable binding from a
1318chosen variable declaration. In addition to this, one have to set some
1319parameters regarding setters/getters, as well as delegation.
61420ef7 1320
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1321To make a working refactoring from the processor, one have to create a
1322\type{MoveRefactoring} with it.
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1323
1324\subsection{The ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger Class}
50954fde 1325
61420ef7 1326The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.changers}{ExtractAndMoveMethodChanger}
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1327class is a subclass of the class
1328\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.changers}{RefaktorChanger}. It is responsible
1329for analyzing and finding the best target for, and also executing, a composition
1330of the Extract Method and Move Method refactorings. This particular changer is
1331the one of my changers that is closest to being a true LTK refactoring. It can
1332be reworked to be one if the problems with overlapping changes are resolved. The
1333changer requires a text selection and the name of the new method, or else a
1334method name will be generated. The selection has to be of the type
1335\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.utils}{CompilationUnitTextSelection}. This
1336class is a custom extension to
1337\typewithref{org.eclipse.jface.text}{TextSelection}, that in addition to the
1338basic offset, length and similar methods, also carry an instance of the
1339underlying compilation unit handle for the selection.
1340
1341\subsubsection{The \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodAnalyzer}}
1342The analysis and precondition checking is done by the
1343\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.analyzers}{ExtractAnd\-MoveMethodAnalyzer}.
1344First is check whether the selection is a valid selection or not, with respect
1345to statement boundaries and that it actually contains any selections. Then it
1346checks the legality of both extracting the selection and also moving it to
1347another class. If the selection is approved as legal, it is analyzed to find the
1348presumably best target to move the extracted method to.
1349
1350For finding the best suitable target the analyzer is using a
1351\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{PrefixesCollector} that
1352collects all the possible candidates for the refactoring. All the non-candidates
1353is found by an
1354\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.analyze.collectors}{UnfixesCollector} that
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1355collects all the targets that will give some kind of error if used. All prefixes
1356(and unfixes) are represented by a
1357\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors}{Prefix}, and they are collected
1358into sets of prefixes. The safe prefixes is found by subtracting from the set of
1359candidate prefixes the prefixes that is enclosing any of the unfixes. A prefix
1360is enclosing an unfix if the unfix is in the set of its sub-prefixes. As an
1361example, \texttt{``a.b''} is enclosing \texttt{``a''}, as is \texttt{``a''}. The
1362safe prefixes is unified in a \type{PrefixSet}. If a prefix has only one
1363occurrence, and is a simple expression, it is considered unsuitable as a move
1364target. This occurs in statements such as \texttt{``a.foo()''}. For such
1365statements it bares no meaning to extract and move them. It only generates an
1366extra method and the calling of it.
50954fde 1367
0f6e45f8 1368\todoin{Clean up sections/subsections.}
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1369
1370\subsubsection{The \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor}}
1371If the analysis finds a possible target for the composite refactoring, it is
1372executed by an
1373\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor}.
1374It is composed of the two executors known as
1375\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{ExtractMethodRefactoringExecutor}
1376and
1377\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{MoveMethodRefactoringExecutor}.
1378The \type{ExtractAndMoveMethodExecutor} is responsible for gluing the two
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1379together by feeding the \type{MoveMethod\-RefactoringExecutor} with the
1380resources needed after executing the extract method refactoring.
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1381\See{postExtractExecution}
1382
1383\subsubsection{The \type{ExtractMethodRefactoringExecutor}}
1384This executor is responsible for creating and executing an instance of the
1385\type{ExtractMethodRefactoring} class. It is also responsible for collecting
1386some post execution resources that can be used to find the method handle for the
1387extracted method, as well as information about its parameters, including the
1388variable they originated from.
1389
1390\subsubsection{The \type{MoveMethodRefactoringExecutor}}
1391This executor is responsible for creating and executing an instance of the
1392\type{MoveRefactoring}. The move refactoring is a processor-based refactoring,
1393and for the Move Method refactoring it is the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor}
1394that is used.
1395
1396The handle for the method to be moved is found on the basis of the information
1397gathered after the execution of the Extract Method refactoring. The only
1398information the \type{ExtractMethodRefactoring} is sharing after its execution,
1399regarding find the method handle, is the textual representation of the new
1400method signature. Therefore it must be parsed, the strings for types of the
1401parameters must be found and translated to a form that can be used to look up
1402the method handle from its type handle. They have to be on the unresolved
1403form.\todo{Elaborate?} The name for the type is found from the original
1404selection, since an extracted method must end up in the same type as the
1405originating method.
1406
1407When analyzing a selection prior to performing the Extract Method refactoring, a
1408target is chosen. It has to be a variable binding, so it is either a field or a
1409local variable/parameter. If the target is a field, it can be used with the
1410\type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} as it is, since the extracted method still is
1411in its scope. But if the target is local to the originating method, the target
1412that is to be used for the processor must be among its parameters. Thus the
1413target must be found among the extracted method's parameters. This is done by
1414finding the parameter information object that corresponds to the parameter that
1415was declared on basis of the original target's variable when the method was
1416extracted. (The extracted method must take one such parameter for each local
1417variable that is declared outside the selection that is extracted.) To match the
1418original target with the correct parameter information object, the key for the
1419information object is compared to the key from the original target's binding.
1420The source code must then be parsed to find the method declaration for the
1421extracted method. The new target must be found by searching through the
1422parameters of the declaration and choose the one that has the same type as the
1423old binding from the parameter information object, as well as the same name that
1424is provided by the parameter information object.
1425
1426
1427\subsection{Finding the IMethod}\label{postExtractExecution}
1428\todoin{Rename section. Write.}
61420ef7 1429
a6415293 1430\subsection{Property collectors}
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1431The prefixes and unfixes are found by property
1432collectors\typeref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors.PropertyCollector}.
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1433A property collector follows the visitor pattern\citing{designPatterns} and is
1434of the \typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{ASTVisitor} type. An
1435\type{ASTVisitor} visits nodes in an abstract syntax tree that forms the Java
1436document object model. The tree consists of nodes of type
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1437\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.do}{ASTNode}.
1438
1439\subsubsection{The PrefixesCollector}
1440The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors}{PrefixesCollector}
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1441finds prefixes that makes up tha basis for calculating move targets for the
1442Extract and Move Method refactoring. It visits expression
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1443statements\typeref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom.ExpressionStatement} and creates
1444prefixes from its expressions in the case of method invocations. The prefixes
1445found is registered with a prefix set, together with all its sub-prefixes.
1446\todo{Rewrite in the case of changes to the way prefixes are found}
1447
3727b75b 1448\subsubsection{The UnfixesCollector}\label{unfixes}
72b64328 1449The \typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.extractors.collectors}{UnfixesCollector}
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1450finds unfixes within a selection. That is prefixes that cannot be used as a
1451basis for finding a move target in a refactoring.
1452
1453An unfix can be a name that is assigned to within a selection. The reason that
1454this cannot be allowed, is that the result would be an assignment to the
1455\type{this} keyword, which is not valid in Java \see{eclipse_bug_420726}.
1456
1457Prefixes that originates from variable declarations within the same selection
1458are also considered unfixes. This is because when a method is moved, it needs to
1459be called through a variable. If this variable is also within the method that is
1460to be moved, this obviously cannot be done.
1461
1462Also considered as unfixes are variable references that are of types that is not
1463suitable for moving a methods to. This can be either because it is not
1464physically possible to move the method to the desired class or that it will
1465cause compilation errors by doing so.
1466
1467If the type binding for a name is not resolved it is considered and unfix. The
1468same applies to types that is only found in compiled code, so they have no
1469underlying source that is accessible to us. (E.g. the \type{java.lang.String}
1470class.)
1471
1472Interfaces types are not suitable as targets. This is simply because interfaces
1473in java cannot contain methods with bodies. (This thesis does not deal with
1474features of Java versions later than Java 7. Java 8 has interfaces with default
1475implementations of methods.) Neither are local types allowed. This accounts for
1476both local and anonymous classes. Anonymous classes are effectively the same as
1477interface types with respect to unfixes. Local classes could in theory be used
1478as targets, but this is not possible due to limitations of the implementation of
1479the Extract and Move Method refactoring. The problem is that the refactoring is
1480done in two steps, so the intermediate state between the two refactorings would
1481not be legal Java code. In the case of local classes, the problem is that, in
1482the intermediate step, a selection referencing a local class would need to take
1483the local class as a parameter if it were to be extracted to a new method. This
1484new method would need to live in the scope of the declaring class of the
1485originating method. The local class would then not be in the scope of the
1486extracted method, thus bringing the source code into an illegal state. One could
1487imagine that the method was extracted and moved in one operation, without an
1488intermediate state. Then it would make sense to include variables with types of
1489local classes in the set of legal targets, since the local classes would then be
1490in the scopes of the method calls. If this makes any difference for software
1491metrics that measure coupling would be a different discussion.
1492
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1493\begin{listing}
1494\begin{multicols}{2}
1495\begin{minted}[]{java}
1496// Before
1497void declaresLocalClass() {
1498 class LocalClass {
1499 void foo() {}
1500 void bar() {}
1501 }
1502
1503 LocalClass inst =
1504 new LocalClass();
1505 inst.foo();
1506 inst.bar();
1507}
1508\end{minted}
1509
1510\columnbreak
1511
1512\begin{minted}[]{java}
1513// After Extract Method
1514void declaresLocalClass() {
1515 class LocalClass {
1516 void foo() {}
1517 void bar() {}
1518 }
1519
1520 LocalClass inst =
1521 new LocalClass();
1522 fooBar(inst);
1523}
0f6e45f8 1524
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1525// Intermediate step
1526void fooBar(LocalClass inst) {
1527 inst.foo();
1528 inst.bar();
1529}
1530\end{minted}
1531\end{multicols}
1532\caption{When Extract and Move Method tries to use a variable with a local type
1533as the move target, an intermediate step is taken that is not allowed. Here:
1534\type{LocalClass} is not in the scope of \method{fooBar} in its intermediate
1535location.}
1536\label{lst:extractMethod_LocalClass}
1537\end{listing}
1538
1539The last class of names that are considered unfixes is names used in null tests.
0f6e45f8 1540These are tests that reads like this: if \texttt{<name>} equals \var{null} then
3727b75b 1541do something. If allowing variables used in those kinds of expressions as
0f6e45f8 1542targets for moving methods, we would end up with code containing boolean
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1543expressions like \texttt{this == null}, which would not be meaningful, since
1544\var{this} would never be \var{null}.
61420ef7 1545
b0e80574 1546\subsection{The Prefix Class}
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1547This class exists mainly for holding data about a prefix, such as the expression
1548that the prefix represents and the occurrence count of the prefix within a
1549selection. In addition to this, it has some functionality such as calculating
1550its sub-prefixes and intersecting it with another prefix. The definition of the
1551intersection between two prefixes is a prefix representing the longest common
1552expression between the two.
1553
b0e80574 1554\subsection{The PrefixSet Class}
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1555A prefix set holds elements of type \type{Prefix}. It is implemented with the
1556help of a \typewithref{java.util}{HashMap} and contains some typical set
1557operations, but it does not implement the \typewithref{java.util}{Set}
1558interface, since the prefix set does not need all of the functionality a
1559\type{Set} requires to be implemented. In addition It needs some other
1560functionality not found in the \type{Set} interface. So due to the relatively
1561limited use of prefix sets, and that it almost always needs to be referenced as
1562such, and not a \type{Set<Prefix>}, it remains as an ad hoc solution to a
1563concrete problem.
1564
1565There are two ways adding prefixes to a \type{PrefixSet}. The first is through
1566its \method{add} method. This works like one would expect from a set. It adds
1567the prefix to the set if it does not already contain the prefix. The other way
1568is to \emph{register} the prefix with the set. When registering a prefix, if the
1569set does not contain the prefix, it is just added. If the set contains the
1570prefix, its count gets incremented. This is how the occurrence count is handled.
1571
1572The prefix set also computes the set of prefixes that is not enclosing any
1573prefixes of another set. This is kind of a set difference operation only for
1574enclosing prefixes.
b0e80574 1575
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1576\subsection{Hacking the Refactoring Undo
1577History}\label{hacking_undo_history}
a6415293 1578\todoin{Where to put this section?}
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1579
1580As an attempt to make multiple subsequent changes to the workspace appear as a
1581single action (i.e. make the undo changes appear as such), I tried to alter
1582the undo changes\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.Change} in the history
1583of the refactorings.
1584
1585My first impulse was to remove the, in this case, last two undo changes from the
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1586undo manager\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager} for the
1587Eclipse refactorings, and then add them to a composite
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1588change\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.CompositeChange} that could be
1589added back to the manager. The interface of the undo manager does not offer a
1590way to remove/pop the last added undo change, so a possible solution could be to
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1591decorate\citing{designPatterns} the undo manager, to intercept and collect the
1592undo changes before delegating to the \method{addUndo}
f041551b 1593method\methodref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.IUndoManager}{addUndo} of the
8fae7b44
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1594manager. Instead of giving it the intended undo change, a null change could be
1595given to prevent it from making any changes if run. Then one could let the
1596collected undo changes form a composite change to be added to the manager.
1597
1598There is a technical challenge with this approach, and it relates to the undo
1599manager, and the concrete implementation
1600UndoManager2\typeref{org.eclipse.ltk.internal.core.refactoring.UndoManager2}.
1601This implementation is designed in a way that it is not possible to just add an
1602undo change, you have to do it in the context of an active
1603operation\typeref{org.eclipse.core.commands.operations.TriggeredOperations}.
1604One could imagine that it might be possible to trick the undo manager into
1605believing that you are doing a real change, by executing a refactoring that is
1606returning a kind of null change that is returning our composite change of undo
1607refactorings when it is performed.
1608
1609Apart from the technical problems with this solution, there is a functional
1610problem: If it all had worked out as planned, this would leave the undo history
1611in a dirty state, with multiple empty undo operations corresponding to each of
1612the sequentially executed refactoring operations, followed by a composite undo
1613change corresponding to an empty change of the workspace for rounding of our
1614composite refactoring. The solution to this particular problem could be to
1615intercept the registration of the intermediate changes in the undo manager, and
1616only register the last empty change.
1617
1618Unfortunately, not everything works as desired with this solution. The grouping
1619of the undo changes into the composite change does not make the undo operation
1620appear as an atomic operation. The undo operation is still split up into
1621separate undo actions, corresponding to the change done by its originating
1622refactoring. And in addition, the undo actions has to be performed separate in
1623all the editors involved. This makes it no solution at all, but a step toward
1624something worse.
1625
1626There might be a solution to this problem, but it remains to be found. The
1627design of the refactoring undo management is partly to be blamed for this, as it
1628it is to complex to be easily manipulated.
1629
b0e80574 1630
0d7fbd88 1631
2f2080fb 1632
03674629 1633\chapter{Analyzing Source Code in Eclipse}
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1634
1635\section{The Java model}
1636The Java model of Eclipse is its internal representation of a Java project. It
1637is light-weight, and has only limited possibilities for manipulating source
1638code. It is typically used as a basis for the Package Explorer in Eclipse.
1639
1640The elements of the Java model is only handles to the underlying elements. This
1641means that the underlying element of a handle does not need to actually exist.
1642Hence the user of a handle must always check that it exist by calling the
1643\method{exists} method of the handle.
1644
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1645The handles with descriptions is listed in \myref{tab:javaModelTable}.
1646
1647\begin{table}[h]
1648 \centering
1649
1650 \newcolumntype{L}[1]{>{\hsize=#1\hsize\raggedright\arraybackslash}X}%
1651 % sum must equal number of columns (3)
1652 \begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{| L{0.7} | L{1.1} | L{1.2} |}
1653 \hline
1654 \textbf{Project Element} & \textbf{Java Model element} &
1655 \textbf{Description} \\
1656 \hline
1657 Java project & \type{IJavaProject} & The Java project which contains all other objects. \\
1658 \hline
1659 Source folder /\linebreak[2] binary folder /\linebreak[3] external library &
1660 \type{IPackageFragmentRoot} & Hold source or binary files, can be a folder
1661 or a library (zip / jar file). \\
1662 \hline
1663 Each package & \type{IPackageFragment} & Each package is below the
1664 \type{IPackageFragmentRoot}, sub-packages are not leaves of the package,
1665 they are listed directed under \type{IPackageFragmentRoot}. \\
1666 \hline
1667 Java Source file & \type{ICompilationUnit} & The Source file is always below
1668 the package node. \\
1669 \hline
1670 Types /\linebreak[2] Fields /\linebreak[3] Methods & \type{IType} /
1671 \linebreak[0]
1672 \type{IField} /\linebreak[3] \type{IMethod} & Types, fields and methods. \\
1673 \hline
1674 \end{tabularx}
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1675 \caption{The elements of the Java Model. {\footnotesize Taken from
1676 \url{http://www.vogella.com/tutorials/EclipseJDT/article.html}}}
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1677 \label{tab:javaModelTable}
1678\end{table}
1679
1680The hierarchy of the Java Model is shown in \myref{fig:javaModel}.
1681
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1682\begin{figure}[h]
1683 \centering
1684 \begin{tikzpicture}[%
1685 grow via three points={one child at (0,-0.7) and
1686 two children at (0,-0.7) and (0,-1.4)},
1687 edge from parent path={(\tikzparentnode.south west)+(0.5,0) |-
1688 (\tikzchildnode.west)}]
1689 \tikzstyle{every node}=[draw=black,thick,anchor=west]
1690 \tikzstyle{selected}=[draw=red,fill=red!30]
1691 \tikzstyle{optional}=[dashed,fill=gray!50]
1692 \node {\type{IJavaProject}}
1693 child { node {\type{IPackageFragmentRoot}}
1694 child { node {\type{IPackageFragment}}
1695 child { node {\type{ICompilationUnit}}
1696 child { node {\type{IType}}
1697 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}
1698 child { node {\type{\ldots}}}
1699 }
1700 child [missing] {}
1701 child { node {\type{\{ IField \}*}}}
1702 child { node {\type{IMethod}}
1703 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}
1704 child { node {\type{\ldots}}}
1705 }
1706 }
1707 child [missing] {}
1708 child [missing] {}
1709 child { node {\type{\{ IMethod \}*}}}
1710 }
1711 child [missing] {}
1712 child [missing] {}
1713 child [missing] {}
1714 child [missing] {}
1715 child [missing] {}
1716 child [missing] {}
1717 child [missing] {}
1718 child { node {\type{\{ IType \}*}}}
1719 }
1720 child [missing] {}
1721 child [missing] {}
1722 child [missing] {}
1723 child [missing] {}
1724 child [missing] {}
1725 child [missing] {}
1726 child [missing] {}
1727 child [missing] {}
1728 child [missing] {}
1729 child { node {\type{\{ ICompilationUnit \}*}}}
1730 }
1731 child [missing] {}
1732 child [missing] {}
1733 child [missing] {}
1734 child [missing] {}
1735 child [missing] {}
1736 child [missing] {}
1737 child [missing] {}
1738 child [missing] {}
1739 child [missing] {}
1740 child [missing] {}
1741 child [missing] {}
1742 child { node {\type{\{ IPackageFragment \}*}}}
1743 }
1744 child [missing] {}
1745 child [missing] {}
1746 child [missing] {}
1747 child [missing] {}
1748 child [missing] {}
1749 child [missing] {}
1750 child [missing] {}
1751 child [missing] {}
1752 child [missing] {}
1753 child [missing] {}
1754 child [missing] {}
1755 child [missing] {}
1756 child [missing] {}
1757 child { node {\type{\{ IPackageFragmentRoot \}*}}}
1758 ;
1759 \end{tikzpicture}
1760 \caption{The Java model of Eclipse. ``\type{\{ SomeElement \}*}'' means
1761 \type{SomeElement} zero or more times. For recursive structures,
1762 ``\type{\ldots}'' is used.}
1763 \label{fig:javaModel}
1764\end{figure}
1765
1766\section{The Abstract Synax Tree}
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1767Eclipse is following the common paradigm of using an abstract syntaxt tree for
1768source code analysis and manipulation.
1769
03674629
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1770When parsing program source code into something that can be used as a foundation
1771for analysis, the start of the process follows the same steps as in a compiler.
1772This is all natural, because the way a compiler anayzes code is no different
1773from how source manipulation programs would do it, except for some properties of
1774code that is analyzed in the parser, and that they may be differing in what
4e468834 1775kinds of properties they analyze. Thus the process of translation source code
03674629 1776into a structure that is suitable for analyzing, can be seen as a kind of
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1777interrupted compilation process \see{fig:interruptedCompilationProcess}.
1778
1779\begin{figure}[h]
1780 \centering
1781 \tikzset{
c876d1a4 1782 base/.style={anchor=north, align=center, rectangle, minimum height=1.4cm},
65e213db 1783 basewithshadow/.style={base, drop shadow, fill=white},
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1784 outlined/.style={basewithshadow, draw, rounded corners, minimum
1785 width=0.4cm},
1786 primary/.style={outlined, font=\bfseries},
65e213db 1787 dashedbox/.style={outlined, dashed},
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1788 arrowpath/.style={black, align=center, font=\small},
1789 processarrow/.style={arrowpath, ->, >=angle 90, shorten >=1pt},
65e213db 1790 }
62563950 1791 \begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1.3cm and 3cm, scale=1, every
c876d1a4 1792 node/.style={transform shape}]
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1793 \node[base](AuxNode1){\small source code};
1794 \node[primary, right=of AuxNode1, xshift=-2.5cm](Scanner){Scanner};
c876d1a4 1795 \node[primary, right=of Scanner, xshift=0.5cm](Parser){Parser};
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1796 \node[dashedbox, below=of Parser](SemanticAnalyzer){Semantic\\Analyzer};
1797 \node[dashedbox, left=of SemanticAnalyzer](SourceCodeOptimizer){Source
1798 Code\\Optimizer};
1799 \node[dashedbox, below=of SourceCodeOptimizer
c876d1a4 1800 ](CodeGenerator){Code\\Generator};
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1801 \node[dashedbox, right=of CodeGenerator](TargetCodeOptimizer){Target
1802 Code\\Optimizer};
1803 \node[base, right=of TargetCodeOptimizer](AuxNode2){};
c876d1a4 1804
62563950
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1805 \draw[processarrow](AuxNode1) -- (Scanner);
1806
1807 \path[arrowpath] (Scanner) -- node [sloped](tokens){tokens}(Parser);
1808 \draw[processarrow](Scanner) -- (tokens) -- (Parser);
1809
1810 \path[arrowpath] (Parser) -- node (syntax){syntax
1811 tree}(SemanticAnalyzer);
1812 \draw[processarrow](Parser) -- (syntax) -- (SemanticAnalyzer);
1813
1814 \path[arrowpath] (SemanticAnalyzer) -- node
1815 [sloped](annotated){annotated\\tree}(SourceCodeOptimizer);
1816 \draw[processarrow, dashed](SemanticAnalyzer) -- (annotated) --
1817 (SourceCodeOptimizer);
1818
1819 \path[arrowpath] (SourceCodeOptimizer) -- node
1820 (intermediate){intermediate code}(CodeGenerator);
1821 \draw[processarrow, dashed](SourceCodeOptimizer) -- (intermediate) --
1822 (CodeGenerator);
1823
1824 \path[arrowpath] (CodeGenerator) -- node [sloped](target1){target
c876d1a4 1825 code}(TargetCodeOptimizer);
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1826 \draw[processarrow, dashed](CodeGenerator) -- (target1) --
1827 (TargetCodeOptimizer);
1828
1829 \path[arrowpath](TargetCodeOptimizer) -- node [sloped](target2){target
c876d1a4 1830 code}(AuxNode2);
62563950 1831 \draw[processarrow, dashed](TargetCodeOptimizer) -- (target2) (AuxNode2);
65e213db 1832 \end{tikzpicture}
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1833 \caption{Interrupted compilation process. {\footnotesize (Full compilation
1834 process from \emph{Compiler construction: principles and practice} by
1835 Kenneth C. Louden\citing{louden1997}.)}}
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1836 \label{fig:interruptedCompilationProcess}
1837\end{figure}
1838
1839\todoin{Refine \myref{fig:interruptedCompilationProcess}.}
03674629
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1840
1841The process starts with a \emph{scanner}, or lexer. The job of the scanner is to
1842read the source code and divide it into tokens for the parser. Therefore, it is
1843also sometimes called a tokenizer. A token is a logical unit, defined in the
1844language specification, consisting of one or more consecutive characters. In
1845the java language the tokens can for instance be the \var{this} keyword, a curly
1846bracket \var{\{} or a \var{nameToken}. It is recognized by the scanner on the
1847basis of something eqivalent of a regular expression. This part of the process
1848is often implemented with the use of a finite automata. In fact, it is common to
1849specify the tokens in regular expressions, that in turn is translated into a
1850finite automata lexer. This process can be automated.
1851
1852The program component used to translate a a stream of tokens into something
1853meaningful, is called a parser. A parser is fed tokens from the scanner and
1854performs an analysis of the structure of a program. It verifies that the syntax
1855is correct according to the grammar rules of a language, that is usually
1856specified in a context-free grammar, and often in a variant of the
1857\emph{Backus--Naur
1858Form}\footnote{\url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backus-Naur\_Form}}. The
1859result coming from the parser is in the form of an \emph{Abstract Syntax Tree},
1860AST for short. It is called \emph{abstract}, because the structure does not
1861contain all of the tokens produced by the scanner. It only contain logical
1862constructs, and because it forms a tree, all kinds of parentheses and brackets
1863are implicit in the structure. It is this AST that is used when performing the
1864semantic analysis of the code.
1865
1866As an example we can think of the expression \code{(5 + 7) * 2}. The root of
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1867this tree would in Eclipse be an \type{InfixExpression} with the operator
1868\var{TIMES}, and a left operand that is also an \type{InfixExpression} with the
1869operator \var{PLUS}. The left operand \type{InfixExpression}, has in turn a left
1870operand of type \type{NumberLiteral} with the value \var{``5''} and a right
1871operand \type{NumberLiteral} with the value \var{``7''}. The root will have a
1872right operand of type \type{NumberLiteral} and value \var{``2''}. The AST for
1873this expression is illustrated in \myref{fig:astInfixExpression}.
1874
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1875Contrary to the Java Model, an abstract syntaxt tree is a heavy-weight
1876representation of source code. It contains information about propertes like type
1877bindings for variables and variable bindings for names.
1878
1879
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1880\begin{figure}[h]
1881 \centering
a1d68d95 1882 \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.8]
894dce0d 1883 \tikzset{level distance=40pt}
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1884 \tikzset{sibling distance=5pt}
1885 \tikzstyle{thescale}=[scale=0.8]
1886 \tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center}}
d11bcf4d 1887 \tikzset{edge from parent/.append style={thick}}
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1888 \tikzstyle{inode}=[rectangle,rounded corners,draw,fill=lightgray,drop
1889 shadow,align=center]
1890 \tikzset{every internal node/.style={inode}}
894dce0d 1891 \tikzset{every leaf node/.style={draw=none,fill=none}}
d11bcf4d 1892
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1893 \Tree [.\type{InfixExpression} [.\type{InfixExpression}
1894 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``5''} ] [.\type{Operator} \var{PLUS} ]
1895 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``7''} ] ]
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1896 [.\type{Operator} \var{TIMES} ]
1897 [.\type{NumberLiteral} \var{``2''} ]
1898 ]
1899 \end{tikzpicture}
894dce0d 1900 \caption{The abstract syntax tree for the expression \code{(5 + 7) * 2}.}
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1901 \label{fig:astInfixExpression}
1902\end{figure}
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1903
1904\subsection{The AST in Eclipse}
1905In Eclipse, every node in the AST is a child of the abstract superclass
1906\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{ASTNode}. Every \type{ASTNode}, among a
1907lot of other things, provides information about its position and length in the
1908source code, as well as a reference to its parent and to the root of the tree.
1909
1910The root of the AST is always of type \type{CompilationUnit}. It is not the same
1911as an instance of an \type{ICompilationUnit}, which is the compilation unit
894dce0d 1912handle of the Java model. The children of a \type{CompilationUnit} is an
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1913optional \type{PackageDeclaration}, zero or more nodes of type
1914\type{ImportDecaration} and all its top-level type declarations that has node
1915types \type{AbstractTypeDeclaration}.
1916
1917An \type{AbstractType\-Declaration} can be one of the types
1918\type{AnnotationType\-Declaration}, \type{Enum\-Declaration} or
1919\type{Type\-Declaration}. The children of an \type{AbstractType\-Declaration}
1920must be a subtype of a \type{BodyDeclaration}. These subtypes are:
1921\type{AnnotationTypeMember\-Declaration}, \type{EnumConstant\-Declaration},
1922\type{Field\-Declaration}, \type{Initializer} and \type{Method\-Declaration}.
1923
1924Of the body declarations, the \type{Method\-Declaration} is the most interesting
1925one. Its children include lists of modifiers, type parameters, parameters and
1926exceptions. It has a return type node and a body node. The body, if present, is
1927of type \type{Block}. A \type{Block} is itself a \type{Statement}, and its
1928children is a list of \type{Statement} nodes.
1929
1930There are too many types of the abstract type \type{Statement} to list up, but
1931there exists a subtype of \type{Statement} for every statement type of Java, as
1932one would expect. This also applies to the abstract type \type{Expression}.
1933However, the expression \type{Name} is a little special, since it is both used
1934as an operand in compound expressions, as well as for names in type declarations
1935and such.
1936
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1937There is an overview of some of the structure of an Eclipse AST in
1938\myref{fig:astEclipse}.
1939
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1940\begin{figure}[h]
1941 \centering
5e5908eb 1942 \begin{tikzpicture}[scale=0.8]
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1943 \tikzset{level distance=50pt}
1944 \tikzset{sibling distance=5pt}
5e5908eb 1945 \tikzstyle{thescale}=[scale=0.8]
e8173df5 1946 \tikzset{every tree node/.style={align=center}}
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1947 \tikzset{edge from parent/.append style={thick}}
1948 \tikzstyle{inode}=[rectangle,rounded corners,draw,fill=lightgray,drop
1949 shadow,align=center]
1950 \tikzset{every internal node/.style={inode}}
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1951 \tikzset{every leaf node/.style={draw=none,fill=none}}
1952
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1953 \Tree [.\type{CompilationUnit} [.\type{[ PackageDeclaration ]} [.\type{Name} ]
1954 [.\type{\{ Annotation \}*} ] ]
1955 [.\type{\{ ImportDeclaration \}*} [.\type{Name} ] ]
0f918507 1956 [.\type{\{ AbstractTypeDeclaration \}+} [.\node(site){\type{\{
e601ce99 1957 BodyDeclaration \}*}}; ] [.\type{SimpleName} ] ]
e8173df5 1958 ]
e601ce99 1959 \begin{scope}[shift={(0.5,-6)}]
5e5908eb 1960 \node[inode,thescale](root){\type{MethodDeclaration}};
e601ce99 1961 \node[inode,thescale](modifiers) at (4.5,-5){\type{\{ IExtendedModifier \}*}
5e5908eb 1962 \\ {\footnotesize (Of type \type{Modifier} or \type{Annotation})}};
e601ce99 1963 \node[inode,thescale](typeParameters) at (-6,-3.5){\type{\{ TypeParameter
5e5908eb 1964 \}*}};
fbeec228 1965 \node[inode,thescale](parameters) at (-5,-5){\type{\{
5e5908eb 1966 SingleVariableDeclaration \}*} \\ {\footnotesize (Parameters)}};
e601ce99 1967 \node[inode,thescale](exceptions) at (5,-3){\type{\{ Name \}*} \\
5e5908eb 1968 {\footnotesize (Exceptions)}};
e601ce99 1969 \node[inode,thescale](return) at (-6.5,-2){\type{Type} \\ {\footnotesize
5e5908eb 1970 (Return type)}};
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1971 \begin{scope}[shift={(0,-5)}]
1972 \Tree [.\node(body){\type{[ Block ]} \\ {\footnotesize (Body)}};
1973 [.\type{\{ Statement \}*} [.\type{\{ Expression \}*} ]
1974 [.\type{\{ Statement \}*} [.\type{\ldots} ]]
1975 ]
1976 ]
1977 \end{scope}
0f918507 1978 \end{scope}
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1979 \draw[->,>=triangle 90,shorten >=1pt](root.east)..controls +(east:2) and
1980 +(south:1)..(site.south);
0f918507 1981
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1982 \draw (root.south) -- (modifiers);
1983 \draw (root.south) -- (typeParameters);
1984 \draw (root.south) -- ($ (parameters.north) + (2,0) $);
1985 \draw (root.south) -- (exceptions);
1986 \draw (root.south) -- (return);
1987 \draw (root.south) -- (body);
1988
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1989 \end{tikzpicture}
1990 \caption{The format of the abstract syntax tree in Eclipse.}
1991 \label{fig:astEclipse}
1992\end{figure}
94deee9e 1993\todoin{Add more to the AST format tree? \myref{fig:astEclipse}}
a2868580 1994
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1995\section{The ASTVisitor}
1996So far, the only thing that has been adressed is how the the data that is going
1997to be the basis for our analysis is structured. Another aspect of it is how we
1998are going to traverse the AST to gather the information we need, so we can
1999conclude about the properties we are analysing. It is of course possible to
2000start at the top of the tree, and manually search through its nodes for the ones
2001we are looking for, but that is a bit inconvenient. To be able to efficiently
2002utilize such an approach, we would need to make our own framework for traversing
2003the tree and visiting only the types of nodes we are after. Luckily, this
2004functionality is already provided in Eclipse, by its
2005\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{ASTVisitor}.
2006
2007The Eclipse AST, together with its \type{ASTVisitor}, follows the \emph{Visitor}
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2008pattern\citing{designPatterns}. The intent of this design pattern is to
2009facilitate extending the functionality of classes without touching the classes
2010themselves.
2011
2012Let us say that there is a class hierarchy of \emph{Elements}. These elements
2013all have a method \method{accept(Visitor visitor)}. In its simplest form, the
2014\method{accept} method just calls the \method{visit} method of the visitor with
2015itself as an argument, like this: \code{visitor.visit(this)}. For the visitors
2016to be able to extend the functionality of all the classes in the elements
2017hierarchy, each \type{Visitor} must have one visit method for each concrete
2018class in the hierarchy. Say the hierarchy consists of the concrete classes
2019\type{ConcreteElementA} and \type{ConcreteElementB}. Then each visitor must have
2020the (possibly empty) methods \method{visit(ConcreteElementA element)} and
2021\method{visit(ConcreteElementB element)}. This scenario is depicted in
2022\myref{fig:visitorPattern}.
50976f51 2023
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2024\begin{figure}[h]
2025 \centering
2026 \tikzstyle{abstract}=[rectangle, draw=black, fill=white, drop shadow, text
2027 centered, anchor=north, text=black, text width=6cm, every one node
2028part/.style={align=center, font=\bfseries\itshape}]
2029 \tikzstyle{concrete}=[rectangle, draw=black, fill=white, drop shadow, text
2030 centered, anchor=north, text=black, text width=6cm]
2031 \tikzstyle{inheritarrow}=[->, >=open triangle 90, thick]
2032 \tikzstyle{commentarrow}=[->, >=angle 90, dashed]
2033 \tikzstyle{line}=[-, thick]
2034 \tikzset{every one node part/.style={align=center, font=\bfseries}}
2035 \tikzset{every second node part/.style={align=center, font=\ttfamily}}
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2036
2037 \begin{tikzpicture}[node distance=1cm, scale=0.8, every node/.style={transform
2038 shape}]
2039 \node (Element) [abstract, rectangle split, rectangle split parts=2]
2040 {
2041 \nodepart{one}{Element}
2042 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2043 };
2044 \node (AuxNode01) [text width=0, minimum height=2cm, below=of Element] {};
2045 \node (ConcreteElementA) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2046 parts=2, left=of AuxNode01]
2047 {
2048 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteElementA}
2049 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2050 };
2051 \node (ConcreteElementB) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2052 parts=2, right=of AuxNode01]
2053 {
2054 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteElementB}
2055 \nodepart{second}{+accept(visitor: Visitor)}
2056 };
2057
2058 \node[comment, below=of ConcreteElementA] (CommentA) {visitor.visit(this)};
2059
2060 \node[comment, below=of ConcreteElementB] (CommentB) {visitor.visit(this)};
2061
2062 \node (AuxNodeX) [text width=0, minimum height=1cm, below=of AuxNode01] {};
2063
2064 \node (Visitor) [abstract, rectangle split, rectangle split parts=2,
2065 below=of AuxNodeX]
2066 {
2067 \nodepart{one}{Visitor}
2068 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2069 };
2070 \node (AuxNode02) [text width=0, minimum height=2cm, below=of Visitor] {};
2071 \node (ConcreteVisitor1) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2072 parts=2, left=of AuxNode02]
2073 {
2074 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteVisitor1}
2075 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2076 };
2077 \node (ConcreteVisitor2) [concrete, rectangle split, rectangle split
2078 parts=2, right=of AuxNode02]
2079 {
2080 \nodepart{one}{ConcreteVisitor2}
2081 \nodepart{second}{+visit(ConcreteElementA)\\+visit(ConcreteElementB)}
2082 };
2083
2084
2085 \draw[inheritarrow] (ConcreteElementA.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2086 (Element.south);
2087 \draw[line] (ConcreteElementA.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2088 (ConcreteElementB.north);
2089
2090 \draw[inheritarrow] (ConcreteVisitor1.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2091 (Visitor.south);
2092 \draw[line] (ConcreteVisitor1.north) -- ++(0,0.7) -|
2093 (ConcreteVisitor2.north);
2094
2095 \draw[commentarrow] (CommentA.north) -- (ConcreteElementA.south);
2096 \draw[commentarrow] (CommentB.north) -- (ConcreteElementB.south);
2097
2098
2099 \end{tikzpicture}
2100 \caption{The Visitor Pattern.}
2101 \label{fig:visitorPattern}
2102\end{figure}
2103
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2104The use of the visitor pattern can be appropriate when the hierarchy of elements
2105is mostly stable, but the family of operations over its elements is constantly
2106growing. This is clearly the cas for the Eclipse AST, since the hierarchy of
2107type \type{ASTNode} is very stable, but the functionality of its elements is
2108extended every time someone needs to operate on the AST. Another aspect of the
2109Eclipse implementation is that it is a public API, and the visitor pattern is an
2110easy way to provide access to the nodes in the tree.
2111
2112The version of the visitor pattern implemented for the AST nodes in Eclipse also
2113provides an elegant way to traverse the tree. It does so by following the
2114convention that every node in the tree first let the visitor visit itself,
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2115before it also makes all its children accept the visitor. The children are only
2116visited if the visit method of their parent returns \var{true}. This pattern
2117then makes for a prefix traversal of the AST. If postfix traversal is desired,
2118the visitors also has \method{endVisit} methods for each node type, that is
2119called after the \method{visit} method for a node. In addition to these visit
2120methods, there are also the methods \method{preVisit(ASTNode)},
2121\method{postVisit(ASTNode)} and \method{preVisit2(ASTNode)}. The
2122\method{preVisit} method is called before the type-specific \method{visit}
2123method. The \method{postVisit} method is called after the type-specific
2124\method{endVisit}. The type specific \method{visit} is only called if
2125\method{preVisit2} returns \var{true}. Overriding the \method{preVisit2} is also
2126altering the behavior of \method{preVisit}, since the default implementation is
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2127responsible for calling it.
2128
2129An example of a trivial \type{ASTVisitor} is shown in
2130\myref{lst:astVisitorExample}.
2131
2132\begin{listing}
2133\begin{minted}{java}
2134public class CollectNamesVisitor extends ASTVisitor {
2135 Collection<Name> names = new LinkedList<Name>();
2136
2137 @Override
2138 public boolean visit(QualifiedName node) {
2139 names.add(node);
2140 return false;
2141 }
2142
2143 @Override
2144 public boolean visit(SimpleName node) {
2145 names.add(node);
2146 return true;
2147 }
2148}
2149\end{minted}
2150\caption{An \type{ASTVisitor} that visits all the names in a subtree and adds
2151them to a collection, except those names that are children of any
2152\type{QualifiedName}.}
2153\label{lst:astVisitorExample}
2154\end{listing}
2155
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2157\section{Illegal selections}
2158
2159\subsection{Not all branches end in return}
2160
2161\subsection{Ambiguous return statement}
2162This problem occurs when there is either more than one assignment to a local
2163variable that is used outside of the selection, or there is only one, but there
2164are also return statements in the selection.
2165
2166\todoin{Explain why we do not need to consider variables assigned inside
2167local/anonymous classes. (The referenced variables need to be final and so
2168on\ldots)}
2169
3727b75b 2170\chapter{Eclipse Bugs Found}
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2171\todoin{Add other things and change headline?}
2172
2173\section{Eclipse bug 420726: Code is broken when moving a method that is
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2174assigning to the parameter that is also the move
2175destination}\label{eclipse_bug_420726}
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2176This bug\footnote{\url{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=420726}}
2177was found when analyzing what kinds of names that was to be considered as
3727b75b 2178\emph{unfixes} \see{unfixes}.
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2179
2180\subsection{The bug}
2181The bug emerges when trying to move a method from one class to another, and when
2182the target for the move (must be a variable, local or field) is both a parameter
2183variable and also is assigned to within the method body. Eclipse allows this to
2184happen, although it is the sure path to a compilation error. This is because we
2185would then have an assignment to a \var{this} expression, which is not allowed
2186in Java.
2187
2188\subsection{The solution}
2189The solution to this problem is to add all simple names that are assigned to in
2190a method body to the set of unfixes.
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2191
2192\section{Eclipse bug 429416: IAE when moving method from anonymous class}
2193I
2194discovered\footnote{\url{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=429416}}
2195this bug during a batch change on the \type{org.eclipse.jdt.ui} project.
2196
2197\subsection{The bug}
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2198This bug surfaces when trying to use the Move Method refactoring to move a
2199method from an anonymous class to another class. This happens both for my
2200simulation as well as in Eclipse, through the user interface. It only occurs
03674629 2201when Eclipse analyzes the program and finds it necessary to pass an instance of
94bb49f0 2202the originating class as a parameter to the moved method. I.e. it want to pass a
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2203\var{this} expression. The execution ends in an
2204\typewithref{java.lang}{IllegalArgumentException} in
2205\typewithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom}{SimpleName} and its
2206\method{setIdentifier(String)} method. The simple name is attempted created in
2207the method
2208\methodwithref{org.eclipse.jdt.internal.corext.refactoring.structure.\\MoveInstanceMethodProcessor}{createInlinedMethodInvocation}
2209so the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} was early a clear suspect.
2210
2211The \method{createInlinedMethodInvocation} is the method that creates a method
2212invocation where the previous invocation to the method that was moved was. From
2213its code it can be read that when a \var{this} expression is going to be passed
2214in to the invocation, it shall be qualified with the name of the original
2215method's declaring class, if the declaring class is either an anonymous clas or
2216a member class. The problem with this, is that an anonymous class does not have
2217a name, hence the term \emph{anonymous} class! Therefore, when its name, an
2218empty string, is passed into
2219\methodwithref{org.eclipse.jdt.core.dom.AST}{newSimpleName} it all ends in an
2220\type{IllegalArgumentException}.
2221
2222\subsection{How I solved the problem}
2223Since the \type{MoveInstanceMethodProcessor} is instantiated in the
2224\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.change.executors}{MoveMethod\-RefactoringExecutor},
2225and only need to be a
2226\typewithref{org.eclipse.ltk.core.refactoring.participants}{MoveProcessor}, I
2227was able to copy the code for the original move processor and modify it so that
2228it works better for me. It is now called
2229\typewithref{no.uio.ifi.refaktor.refactorings.processors}{ModifiedMoveInstanceMethodProcessor}.
2230The only modification done (in addition to some imports and suppression of
2231warnings), is in the \method{createInlinedMethodInvocation}. When the declaring
2232class of the method to move is anonymous, the \var{this} expression in the
2233parameter list is not qualified with the declaring class' (empty) name.
2234
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2235\section{Eclipse bug 429954: Extracting statement with reference to local type
2236breaks code}\label{eclipse_bug_429954}
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2237The bug\footnote{\url{https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show\_bug.cgi?id=429954}}
2238was discovered when doing some changes to the way unfixes is computed.
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2239
2240\subsection{The bug}
2241The problem is that Eclipse is allowing selections that references variables of
2242local types to be extracted. When this happens the code is broken, since the
2243extracted method must take a parameter of a local type that is not in the
2244methods scope. The problem is illustrated in
2245\myref{lst:extractMethod_LocalClass}, but there in another setting.
2246
2247\subsection{Actions taken}
2248There are no actions directly springing out of this bug, since the Extract
a6415293 2249Method refactoring cannot be meant to be this way. This is handled on the
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2250analysis stage of our Extract and Move Method refactoring. So names representing
2251variables of local types is considered unfixes \see{unfixes}.
2252\todoin{write more when fixing this in legal statements checker}
2253
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2254\chapter{Related Work}
2255
2256\section{The compositional paradigm of refactoring}
2257This paradigm builds upon the observation of Vakilian et
2258al.\citing{vakilian2012}, that of the many automated refactorings existing in
2259modern IDEs, the simplest ones are dominating the usage statistics. The report
2260mainly focuses on \emph{Eclipse} as the tool under investigation.
2261
2262The paradigm is described almost as the opposite of automated composition of
2263refactorings \see{compositeRefactorings}. It works by providing the programmer
2264with easily accessible primitive refactorings. These refactorings shall be
2265accessed via keyboard shortcuts or quick-assist menus\footnote{Think
2266quick-assist with Ctrl+1 in Eclipse} and be promptly executed, opposed to in the
2267currently dominating wizard-based refactoring paradigm. They are ment to
2268stimulate composing smaller refactorings into more complex changes, rather than
2269doing a large upfront configuration of a wizard-based refactoring, before
2270previewing and executing it. The compositional paradigm of refactoring is
2271supposed to give control back to the programmer, by supporting \himher with an
2272option of performing small rapid changes instead of large changes with a lesser
2273degree of control. The report authors hope this will lead to fewer unsuccessful
2274refactorings. It also could lower the bar for understanding the steps of a
2275larger composite refactoring and thus also help in figuring out what goes wrong
2276if one should choose to op in on a wizard-based refactoring.
2277
2278Vakilian and his associates have performed a survey of the effectiveness of the
2279compositional paradigm versus the wizard-based one. They claim to have found
2280evidence of that the \emph{compositional paradigm} outperforms the
2281\emph{wizard-based}. It does so by reducing automation, which seem
2282counterintuitive. Therefore they ask the question ``What is an appropriate level
2283of automation?'', and thus questions what they feel is a rush toward more
2284automation in the software engineering community.
2285
2286
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2287\backmatter{}
2288\printbibliography
055dca93 2289\listoftodos
9ff90080 2290\end{document}