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Read about 3 new Scala code patterns we just added to our platform in our mission Codacy to support multiple coding languages effectively.
1. Avoid using DateTime.now without a timezone (Error Prone)
Using DateTime.now without specifying a timezone can lead to error prone code with regard to dealing with other timezones than those initially considered, as well as with daylight saving time.
For instance, the following example:
val now = DateTime.now
could easily be written as:
val now = DateTime.now(DateTimeZone.UTC)
2. Prefer using .nonEmpty (Code Style)
The collections libraries usually provide a method for determining if the iterable has, at least, one element, with:
val hasElements = SomeSequence.nonEmpty
This is a bit cleaner than verifying explicitly the length or the size:
val hasElements = SomeSequence.length > 0 val hasElementsUsingSize = SomeSequence.size > 0
3. Prevent XML parsing attacks (Security)
XML External Entity (XXE) attacks can occur when an XML parser supports XML entities while processing XML received from an untrusted source.
Vulnerable Code:
SAXParser parser = SAXParserFactory.newInstance().newSAXParser(); parser.parse(inputStream, customHandler);
Solution using “Secure processing” mode:
SAXParserFactory spf = SAXParserFactory.newInstance(); spf.setFeature(XMLConstants.FEATURE_SECURE_PROCESSING, true); SAXParser parser = spf.newSAXParser(); parser.parse(inputStream, customHandler);
Solution disabling DTD:
SAXParserFactory spf = SAXParserFactory.newInstance(); spf.setFeature("http://apache.org/xml/features/disallow-doctype-decl", true); SAXParser parser = spf.newSAXParser(); parser.parse(inputStream, customHandler);
Enabling patterns with Codacy
When new patterns are added, they’re disabled for already existing projects.
To enable them for a project first head to the project and hit “Code Patterns” on the top right corner. You’ll be able to filter the patterns by language or category:
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To enable the new patterns simply look for the “New” tag on them and hit their respective checkbox:
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If you’re interested, there’s also a “Fork pattern” button on the bottom right corner of the details of every Scala pattern.
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Hitting this button will take you to our Beta Pattern Creator with the current pattern loaded; you can then edit it to create your own:
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Have fun, code well!
Edit: We just published an ebook: “The Ultimate Guide to Code Review” based on a survey of 680+ developers. Enjoy!
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