# Apex Rules

Index of all built-in rules available for Apex
Table of Contents

## Best Practices

Rules which enforce generally accepted best practices.

- ApexAssertionsShouldIncludeMessage: The second parameter of System.assert/third parameter of System.assertEquals/System.assertNotEqua…
- ApexUnitTestClassShouldHaveAsserts: Apex unit tests should include at least one assertion. This makes the tests more robust, and usi…
- ApexUnitTestClassShouldHaveRunAs: Apex unit tests should include at least one runAs method. This makes the tests more robust, and …
- ApexUnitTestMethodShouldHaveIsTestAnnotation: Apex test methods should have ‘@isTest’ annotation instead of the ‘testMethod’ keyword, as ‘testM…
- ApexUnitTestShouldNotUseSeeAllDataTrue: Apex unit tests should not use @isTest(seeAllData=true) because it opens up the existing database…
- AvoidFutureAnnotation: Usage of the ‘@Future’ annotation should be limited. The ‘@Future’ annotation is a legacy way to …
- AvoidGlobalModifier: Global classes should be avoided (especially in managed packages) as they can never be deleted or…
- AvoidLogicInTrigger: As triggers do not allow methods like regular classes they are less flexible and suited to apply …
- DebugsShouldUseLoggingLevel: The first parameter of System.debug, when using the signature with two parameters, is a LoggingLe…
- QueueableWithoutFinalizer: Detects when the Queueable interface is used but a Finalizer is not attached. It is b…
- UnusedLocalVariable: Detects when a local variable is declared and/or assigned but not used.

## Code Style

Rules which enforce a specific coding style.

- AnnotationsNamingConventions: Apex, while case-insensitive, benefits from a consistent code style to improve readability and ma…
- ClassNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for type declarations. This rule reports type declara…
- FieldDeclarationsShouldBeAtStart: Field declarations should appear before method declarations within a class. Note: Since PMD 7.21….
- FieldNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for field declarations. This rule reports variable declarations …
- ForLoopsMustUseBraces: Avoid using ‘for’ statements without using surrounding braces. If the code formatting or indentat…
- FormalParameterNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for formal parameters of methods. This rule reports f…
- IfElseStmtsMustUseBraces: Avoid using if..else statements without using surrounding braces. If the code formatting …
- IfStmtsMustUseBraces: Avoid using if statements without using braces to surround the code block. If the code …
- LocalVariableNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for local variable declarations. This rule reports va…
- MethodNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for method declarations. This rule reports method dec…
- OneDeclarationPerLine: Apex allows the use of several variables declaration of the same type on one line. However, it ca…
- PropertyNamingConventions: Configurable naming conventions for property declarations. This rule reports property…
- WhileLoopsMustUseBraces: Avoid using ‘while’ statements without using braces to surround the code block. If the code forma…

## Design

Rules that help you discover design issues.

- AvoidBooleanMethodParameters: Boolean parameters in a system’s API can make method calls difficult to understand and …
- AvoidDeeplyNestedIfStmts: Avoid creating deeply nested if-then statements since they are harder to read and error-prone to …
- CognitiveComplexity: Methods that are highly complex are difficult to read and more costly to maintain. If you include…
- CyclomaticComplexity: The complexity of methods directly affects maintenance costs and readability. Concentrating too m…
- ExcessiveClassLength: Deprecated Excessive class file lengths are usually indications that the class may be burdened with excessiv…
- ExcessiveParameterList: Methods with numerous parameters are a challenge to maintain, especially if most of them share th…
- ExcessivePublicCount: Classes with large numbers of public methods, attributes, and properties require disproportionate…
- NcssConstructorCount: Deprecated This rule uses the NCSS (Non-Commenting Source Statements) algorithm to determine the number of l…
- NcssCount: This rule uses the NCSS (Non-Commenting Source Statements) metric to determine the number of line…
- NcssMethodCount: Deprecated This rule uses the NCSS (Non-Commenting Source Statements) algorithm to determine the number of l…
- NcssTypeCount: Deprecated This rule uses the NCSS (Non-Commenting Source Statements) algorithm to determine the number of l…
- StdCyclomaticComplexity: Complexity directly affects maintenance costs is determined by the number of decision points in a…
- TooManyFields: Classes that have too many fields can become unwieldy and could be redesigned to have fewer field…
- UnusedMethod: Avoid having unused methods since they make understanding and maintaining code harder. This rule …

## Documentation

Rules that are related to code documentation.

- ApexDoc: This rule validates that: ApexDoc comments are present for classes, methods, and properties th…

## Error Prone

Rules to detect constructs that are either broken, extremely confusing or prone to runtime errors.

- ApexCSRF: Having DML operations in Apex class constructor or initializers can have unexpected side effects:…
- AvoidDirectAccessTriggerMap: Avoid directly accessing Trigger.old and Trigger.new as it can lead to a bug. Triggers should be …
- AvoidHardcodingId: When deploying Apex code between sandbox and production environments, or installing Force.com App…
- AvoidNonExistentAnnotations: Apex supported non existent annotations for legacy reasons. In the future, use of such non-…
- AvoidStatefulDatabaseResult: Using instance variables of the following types (or collections of these types) within a stateful…
- EmptyCatchBlock: Empty Catch Block finds instances where an exception is caught, but nothing is done. In mos…
- EmptyIfStmt: Empty If Statement finds instances where a condition is checked but nothing is done about it.
- EmptyStatementBlock: Empty block statements serve no purpose and should be removed.
- EmptyTryOrFinallyBlock: Avoid empty try or finally blocks - what’s the point?
- EmptyWhileStmt: Empty While Statement finds all instances where a while statement does nothing. If it is a …
- InaccessibleAuraEnabledGetter: In the Summer ‘21 release, a mandatory security update enforces access modifiers on Apex properti…
- MethodWithSameNameAsEnclosingClass: Non-constructor methods should not have the same name as the enclosing class.
- OverrideBothEqualsAndHashcode: Override both ‘public Boolean equals(Object obj)’, and ‘public Integer hashCode()’, or override n…
- TestMethodsMustBeInTestClasses: Test methods marked as a testMethod or annotated with @IsTest, but not residing in a test c…
- TypeShadowsBuiltInNamespace: This rule finds Apex classes, enums, and interfaces that have the same name as a class, enum, or …

## Performance

Rules that flag suboptimal code.

- AvoidDebugStatements: Debug statements contribute to longer transactions and consume Apex CPU time even when debug logs…
- AvoidNonRestrictiveQueries: When working with very large amounts of data, unfiltered SOQL or SOSL queries can quickly cause …
- EagerlyLoadedDescribeSObjectResult: This rule finds ‘DescribeSObjectResult’s which could have been loaded eagerly via ‘SObjectType.ge…
- OperationWithHighCostInLoop: This rule finds method calls inside loops that are known to be likely a performance issue. These …
- OperationWithLimitsInLoop: Database class methods, DML operations, SOQL queries, SOSL queries, Approval class methods, Email…

## Security

Rules that flag potential security flaws.

- ApexBadCrypto: The rule makes sure you are using randomly generated IVs and keys for ‘Crypto’ calls. Hard-wiring…
- ApexCRUDViolation: The rule validates you are checking for access permissions before a SOQL/SOSL/DML operation. Sinc…
- ApexDangerousMethods: Checks against calling dangerous methods. For the time being, it reports: Against ‘FinancialForc…
- ApexInsecureEndpoint: Checks against accessing endpoints under plain http. You should always use https for security.
- ApexOpenRedirect: Checks against redirects to user-controlled locations. This prevents attackers from redirecting u…
- ApexSharingViolations: Detect classes declared without explicit sharing mode if DML methods are used. This forces the de…
- ApexSOQLInjection: Detects the usage of untrusted / unescaped variables in DML queries.
- ApexSuggestUsingNamedCred: Detects hardcoded credentials used in requests to an endpoint. You should refrain from hardcoding…
- ApexXSSFromEscapeFalse: Reports on calls to ‘addError’ with disabled escaping. The message passed to ‘addError’ will be d…
- ApexXSSFromURLParam: Makes sure that all values obtained from URL parameters are properly escaped / sanitized to avoid…

## Additional rulesets

- quickstart (`rulesets/apex/quickstart.xml`):

  Quickstart configuration of PMD for Salesforce.com Apex. Includes the rules that are most likely to apply everywhere.

  It contains the following rules:

  AnnotationsNamingConventions, ApexBadCrypto, ApexCRUDViolation, ApexCSRF, ApexDangerousMethods, ApexDoc, ApexInsecureEndpoint, ApexOpenRedirect, ApexSharingViolations, ApexSOQLInjection, ApexSuggestUsingNamedCred, ApexUnitTestClassShouldHaveAsserts, ApexUnitTestClassShouldHaveRunAs, ApexUnitTestShouldNotUseSeeAllDataTrue, ApexXSSFromEscapeFalse, ApexXSSFromURLParam, AvoidDeeplyNestedIfStmts, AvoidDirectAccessTriggerMap, AvoidGlobalModifier, AvoidHardcodingId, AvoidLogicInTrigger, AvoidNonExistentAnnotations, ClassNamingConventions, CyclomaticComplexity, DebugsShouldUseLoggingLevel, EmptyCatchBlock, EmptyIfStmt, EmptyStatementBlock, EmptyTryOrFinallyBlock, EmptyWhileStmt, ExcessiveParameterList, ExcessivePublicCount, FieldNamingConventions, ForLoopsMustUseBraces, FormalParameterNamingConventions, IfElseStmtsMustUseBraces, IfStmtsMustUseBraces, LocalVariableNamingConventions, MethodNamingConventions, MethodWithSameNameAsEnclosingClass, NcssCount, OneDeclarationPerLine, OperationWithHighCostInLoop, OperationWithLimitsInLoop, PropertyNamingConventions, StdCyclomaticComplexity, TooManyFields, WhileLoopsMustUseBraces

Tags: rule_references