Automatically improving Java codebases with Error Prone
summary
Shows how Error Prone (a Java compiler plugin) plus Refaster rules automatically detect and rewrite issues during Maven builds; demo compiles, flags "return value ignored" and fixes it with a patch profile. Picnic reports creating ~900 Refaster rules and ~40 BugPatterns, running 60+ PRs across ~70 repos to apply fixes, using a patch script so CI fails until developers run and inspect automated changes. Rollout is iterative, suppressions exist for edge cases, and adopters report fewer repetitive review comments.
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chapters (11)
- 0:00Introduction and motivation
- 1:44What is Error Prone
- 9:33Error Prone demo
- 24:51Refaster and custom rules
- 30:54Deep dive into Refaster
- 43:10Live coding Refaster rules
- 1:02:20Error Prone advanced features
- 1:19:48Implementing Error Prone checks
- 1:30:03Roadmap for adoption
- 1:43:51Error Prone at Picnic
- 1:53:45Q&A and closing
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