ajc error for particular Pointcut and @Deprecated

[zuckel]

I've run into an aspectj compiler problem that only happens in a very specific case. It might be related to #316 because it also involves the @deprecated annotation.

See https://github.com/zuckel/aspectj-nullrecipient-reproducer for a minimal reproducer.

The setup involves

• a @Deprecated annotation on a parameter in an interface
• a @Pointcut of the form "execution(* *(@SomeAnnotation (*), ..))" (the comma being the important part)

The annotation does not have to exist at all or be present on the interface or class.

@kriegaex I am fully aware that you are not currently actively maintaining this, and am not expecting any update. I am merely documenting this issue. Maybe sometime, someone (maybe me?) has time to look into it.

Environment

Apache Maven 3.9.8 (36645f6c9b5079805ea5009217e36f2cffd34256)
Java version: 21.0.5, vendor: Eclipse Adoptium, runtime: /home/flasinger/jvm/jdk-21.0.5+11
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "linux", version: "6.8.0-51-generic", arch: "amd64", family: "unix"

It happens on all the latest aspectj versions up to at least 1.9.22.1.

For some of my colleagues it happens every time, while for others it never happens. We haven't been able to figure out why, yet. We are all on the exact same JDK version. (Maven version does differ but is not conclusive.)

Code

public class TheClass implements TheInterface {
    @Override
    public void method(int param) {
    }
}

public interface TheInterface {
    void method(@Deprecated int param);
}

import org.aspectj.lang.ProceedingJoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Around;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;

@Aspect
public class TheAspect {
    @Around("execution(* *(@SomeAnnotation (*), ..))")
    public Object aroundContext(ProceedingJoinPoint pjp) throws Throwable {
        return pjp.proceed();
    }
}

Error

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal dev.aspectj:aspectj-maven-plugin:1.14:compile (default) on project aspectj-nullrecipient-reproducer: AJC compiler errors:
[ERROR] abort trouble in: 
[ERROR] public class TheClass extends java.lang.Object implements TheInterface:
[ERROR]   public void <init>():
[ERROR]                     ALOAD_0     // LTheClass; this   (line 1)
[ERROR]                     INVOKESPECIAL java.lang.Object.<init> ()V
[ERROR]     constructor-execution(void TheClass.<init>())
[ERROR]     |               RETURN
[ERROR]     constructor-execution(void TheClass.<init>())
[ERROR]   end public void <init>()
[ERROR] 
[ERROR]   public void method(int)    org.aspectj.weaver.MethodDeclarationLineNumber: 4:79
[ERROR] :
[ERROR]                     RETURN   (line 6)
[ERROR]   end public void method(int)
[ERROR] 
[ERROR] end public class TheClass
[ERROR]  -- (NullPointerException) Cannot invoke "org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.Binding.setAnnotations(org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.AnnotationBinding[], boolean)" because "this.recipient" is null
[ERROR] Cannot invoke "org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.Binding.setAnnotations(org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.AnnotationBinding[], boolean)" because "this.recipient" is null
[ERROR] java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.Binding.setAnnotations(org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.AnnotationBinding[], boolean)" because "this.recipient" is null
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.ast.Annotation.resolveType(Annotation.java:973)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.lookup.EclipseResolvedMember.getEclipseParameterAnnotations(EclipseResolvedMember.java:378)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.lookup.EclipseResolvedMember.getParameterAnnotationTypes(EclipseResolvedMember.java:253)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.JoinPointSignature.getParameterAnnotationTypes(JoinPointSignature.java:257)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.SignaturePattern.matchesExactlyMethod(SignaturePattern.java:532)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.SignaturePattern.matchesExactly(SignaturePattern.java:360)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.SignaturePattern.matches(SignaturePattern.java:320)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.KindedPointcut.matchInternal(KindedPointcut.java:202)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.Pointcut.match(Pointcut.java:137)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.AndPointcut.matchInternal(AndPointcut.java:56)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.patterns.Pointcut.match(Pointcut.java:137)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.ShadowMunger.match(ShadowMunger.java:113)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.Advice.match(Advice.java:113)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelAdvice.match(BcelAdvice.java:161)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelClassWeaver.match(BcelClassWeaver.java:3336)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelClassWeaver.match(BcelClassWeaver.java:2716)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelClassWeaver.weave(BcelClassWeaver.java:483)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelClassWeaver.weave(BcelClassWeaver.java:103)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelWeaver.weave(BcelWeaver.java:1703)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelWeaver.weaveWithoutDump(BcelWeaver.java:1647)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelWeaver.weaveAndNotify(BcelWeaver.java:1414)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.weaver.bcel.BcelWeaver.weave(BcelWeaver.java:1189)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.weaveQueuedEntries(AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.java:510)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.queueForWeaving(AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.java:446)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.afterProcessing(AjPipeliningCompilerAdapter.java:431)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.compiler.CompilerAdapter.ajc$after$org_aspectj_ajdt_internal_compiler_CompilerAdapter$5$6b855184(CompilerAdapter.aj:104)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.Compiler.process(Compiler.java:945)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.Compiler.processCompiledUnits(Compiler.java:575)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:475)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.Compiler.compile(Compiler.java:426)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.core.builder.AjBuildManager.performCompilation(AjBuildManager.java:1101)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.core.builder.AjBuildManager.performBuild(AjBuildManager.java:275)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.internal.core.builder.AjBuildManager.batchBuild(AjBuildManager.java:188)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.ajc.AjdtCommand.doCommand(AjdtCommand.java:103)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.ajdt.ajc.AjdtCommand.runCommand(AjdtCommand.java:47)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.tools.ajc.Main.run(Main.java:385)
[ERROR] 	at org.aspectj.tools.ajc.Main.runMain(Main.java:274)
[ERROR] 	at org.codehaus.mojo.aspectj.AbstractAjcCompiler.execute(AbstractAjcCompiler.java:627)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultBuildPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultBuildPluginManager.java:126)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.doExecute2(MojoExecutor.java:328)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.doExecute(MojoExecutor.java:316)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:212)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:174)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.access$000(MojoExecutor.java:75)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor$1.run(MojoExecutor.java:162)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultMojosExecutionStrategy.execute(DefaultMojosExecutionStrategy.java:39)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:159)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject(LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:105)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject(LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:73)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build(SingleThreadedBuilder.java:53)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute(LifecycleStarter.java:118)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:261)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:173)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:101)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute(MavenCli.java:903)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain(MavenCli.java:280)
[ERROR] 	at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:203)
[ERROR] 	at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DirectMethodHandleAccessor.invoke(DirectMethodHandleAccessor.java:103)
[ERROR] 	at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:580)
[ERROR] 	at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:255)
[ERROR] 	at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:201)
[ERROR] 	at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:361)
[ERROR] 	at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:314)

[kriegaex]

Thank you for raising this issue and creating a reproducer.

It might be related to #316 because it also involves the @deprecated annotation.

This issue might even be a duplicate, but I would have to check first to be sure. At first glance, it certainly looks related.

@kriegaex I am fully aware that you are not currently actively maintaining this, and am not expecting any update. I am merely documenting this issue.

This is exactly the right approach. Despite my hope that in the future someone will fund me to continue maintaining this project, any OSS project is greater than a single person, and raising issues is very important for its future, no matter who (hopefully I) analyses, debugs or resolves issues or feature requests. 🙂

[aclement]

For sure this is specific to @deprecated, line 973 is as indicated below (Eclipse JDT code):

		if ((tagBits & TagBits.AnnotationDeprecated) != 0 && compilerOptions.complianceLevel >= ClassFileConstants.JDK9 && !compilerOptions.storeAnnotations) {
973:			this.recipient.setAnnotations(new AnnotationBinding[] {this.compilerAnnotation}, true); // force storing enhanced deprecation
		}

		// record annotation positions in the compilation result
		scope.referenceCompilationUnit().recordSuppressWarnings(IrritantSet.NLS, null, this.sourceStart, this.declarationSourceEnd, scope.referenceContext());
		if (this.recipient != null) {

What is interesting is that there is code further down that checks the recipient isn't null (see the last line), but that check is not made in the deprecated block.

[kriegaex]

For reference, you probably mean this part of our forked code:
https://github.com/eclipse-aspectj/eclipse.jdt.core/blob/aspectj/org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.batch/src/org/eclipse/jdt/internal/compiler/ast/Annotation.java#L970

In the upstream repository, it is here:
https://github.com/eclipse-jdt/eclipse.jdt.core/blob/3cf07e4460618c5b81265d44aef6627d38a9be94/org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.batch/src/org/eclipse/jdt/internal/compiler/ast/Annotation.java#L960

[kriegaex]

What is interesting is that there is code further down that checks the recipient isn't null (see the last line), but that check is not made in the deprecated block.

@aclement, are you going to raise an upstream bug or PR?

[aclement]

you probably mean this part of our forked code:

I was showing the code that would have given rise to the error, the 1.9.22 tag of our fork (where the line number matched the stack trace).

are you going to raise an upstream bug or PR?

Doubt it because I have no testcase that demonstrates it is a problem, maybe in the way Eclipse uses JDT that recipient can never be null at that point. I was going to investigate further.