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Useless parameter

ID: java/unused-parameter
Kind: problem
Security severity: 
Severity: recommendation
Precision: high
Tags:
   - maintainability
   - useless-code
   - external/cwe/cwe-561
Query suites:
   - java-security-and-quality.qls

Click to see the query in the CodeQL repository

Parameters that are never read in the body of the method, and are not required due to overriding, are useless and can be removed. Useless parameters unnecessarily complicate the interface for that method, and cause a maintenance and development burden.

Methods with useless parameters indicate that either the method can be simplified by removing the parameter, or that the method is not using a value it should be using. Parameters of methods that override other methods will not be marked as useless, because they are required. Similarly, parameters of methods that are overridden by other methods are not marked as useless if they are used by one of the overriding methods.

Recommendation

The method should be inspected to determine whether the parameter should be used within the body. If the method is overridden, also consider whether any override methods should be using the parameter. If the parameter is not required, it should be removed.

Example

In the following example, we have a method for determining whether a String path is an absolute path:

public void isAbsolutePath(String path, String name) {
	return path.startsWith("/") || path.startsWith("\\");
}

The method uses the parameter path to determine the return value. However, the parameter name is not used within the body of the method. The parameter will be marked as useless, and can be removed from the program.

References

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