SonarCloud remove candidate rule: java:S2589 Boolean expressions should not be gratuitous

[CDellaGiusta]

This poll closes Friday, April 18th 2025.

Candidate rule for removal: java:S2589
Number of issues with this rule in Uyuni: 13
Rule: Boolean expressions should not be gratuitous
Software qualities impacted: MAINTAINABILITY
Why is this an issue:

Gratuitous boolean expressions are conditions that do not change the evaluation of a program. This issue can indicate logical errors and affect the correctness of an application, as well as its maintainability.
Control flow constructs like if-statements allow the programmer to direct the flow of a program depending on a boolean expression. However, if the condition is always true or always false, only one of the branches will ever be executed. In that case, the control flow construct and the condition no longer serve a purpose; they become gratuitous.
What is the potential impact?

The presence of gratuitous conditions can indicate a logical error. For example, the programmer intended to have the program branch into different paths but made a mistake when formulating the branching condition. In this case, this issue might result in a bug and thus affect the reliability of the application. For instance, it might lead to the computation of incorrect results.

Additionally, gratuitous conditions and control flow constructs introduce unnecessary complexity. The source code becomes harder to understand, and thus, the application becomes more difficult to maintain.

Should it be removed?:
Re-checking a condition could express intention, and sometimes a condition is always true or false following an instruction that can be many lines above

All rule issues in Uyuni: https://sonarcloud.io/project/issues?languages=java&issueStatuses=OPEN%2CCONFIRMED&id=uyuni-project_uyuni&rules=java%3AS2589

Examples in our code:

          if (dcm == null) {
              throw new LookupException("There's no such a distribution channel " +  "mapping with id: " + dcmId + ".");
          }
         if (dcmId == null || dcm == null || dcm.getOrg() == null) { ...}


          if (size() > 0 || ignoreEmptySelection) {
              dispatched = true;
              return;
          }
          if (!ignoreEmptySelection) {...}


          String xml = pkgDto.getPrimaryXml();
          if (ConfigDefaults.get().useDBRepodata() && !StringUtils.isEmpty(xml)) {
              if (xml != null) {.....}
          }