[rombirli]

Implements rule S9435, which raises on a ternary expression whose condition is negated (!x or x != y), since the reader has to invert the condition mentally before pairing each result with the case it belongs to.

Null checks are exempt: value != null ? value.name() : "unknown" reads naturally as a positive guard, and so does its long form !(value == null). Only the top-level condition is considered, so value != null && count != 0 ? ... : ... does not raise. if statements are out of scope by design, as decided on the RSPEC.

RSPEC: https://github.com/SonarSource/rspec/pull/8337 (branch rule/add-RSPEC-S9435, not merged yet)
Jira: https://sonarsource.atlassian.net/browse/SONARJAVA-7162

---

Summary by Gitar

• Quick fix:
  • Adds a quick fix that inverts the condition and swaps both ternary branches
  • Parenthesizes assignments moved into the false branch so the rewritten expression compiles
• Negated comparisons:
  • Skips negated comparisons such as !(count > 0) because rule S1940 already reports them

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[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

SONARJAVA-7162

[datadog-sonarsource]

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🔗 Commit SHA: 95c89a2 | Docs | View more details | Give us feedback!}

[github-actions]

⚖️ Ruling update ready for review: #6355

[github-actions]

Ruling Diff Summary

Detected changes in 1 rule files: 0 issues removed, 3 issues added.

S9435 (java) on sonarqube-6.5 - 0 issues removed, 3 issues added - new ruling file

Added src/main/java/org/sonar/server/debt/DebtRulesXMLImporter.java (line 254)

(source file not found at this revision: src/main/java/org/sonar/server/debt/DebtRulesXMLImporter.java)

Added src/test/java/org/sonar/server/issue/IssueDocTesting.java (line 69)

(source file not found at this revision: src/test/java/org/sonar/server/issue/IssueDocTesting.java)

Added src/test/java/org/sonar/server/issue/IssueDocTesting.java (line 74)

(source file not found at this revision: src/test/java/org/sonar/server/issue/IssueDocTesting.java)

[rombirli]

/pvf

[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

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[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

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[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

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[rombirli]

/pvf

[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

📊 Performance Validation complete
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[nathsou]

Looks good but I would consider reusing S7735

[nathsou]

Looks good, only a small issue to fix.

[rombirli]

/pvf

[hashicorp-vault-sonar-prod]

📊 Performance Validation complete
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[gitar-bot]

Code Review ✅ Approved 2 closed / 2 findings

🟡 Medium risk · Adding S9435 changes ternary issue reporting and introduces an autofix that could rewrite expressions incorrectly if condition or branch handling misses an edge case.

Adds rule S9435 flagging ternary expressions with a negated top-level condition (!x or x != y), excluding null checks, with a quick fix that inverts the condition and swaps branches. Resolved the quick fix compilation issue with unparenthesized assignments in the true branch and restored the Javadoc placement on falseBranchText.

✅ 2 closed

✅ Edge Case: Quick fix breaks compilation when the true branch is an unparenthesized assignment

📄 java-checks/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/checks/NegatedTernaryConditionCheck.java:76-77
invertAndSwap copies the true branch's source text into the false slot unchanged. In Java the middle operand of ?: can be any Expression, but the third operand must be a ConditionalExpression or a lambda. So !done ? x = 1 : y is valid code that this rule flags, yet the fix rewrites it to done ? y : x = 1. That parses as (done ? y : x) = 1, which does not compile. The fix should wrap the moved true expression in parentheses when it is an ASSIGNMENT-kind tree (or anything with lower precedence than a conditional), or skip the quick fix in that case.

✅ Quality: Javadoc for falseBranchText now attached to withSeparator

📄 java-checks/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/checks/NegatedTernaryConditionCheck.java:84-88 📄 java-checks/src/main/java/org/sonar/java/checks/NegatedTernaryConditionCheck.java:103
The new withSeparator method was inserted between the Javadoc that describes falseBranchText and that method. As a result, the comment about parenthesizing assignments moved to the third operand of ?: now documents withSeparator, which only adds a leading space, and falseBranchText has no doc at all. Move withSeparator above the Javadoc block, or move the Javadoc back down to sit directly above falseBranchText.

Verification Rules 2/2 met Repos 4 inspected

Functional validation No results

Rules 2 passed 1 not applicable

✅ Internal artifact registries
✅ Repository license compliance

Broader impact Repos 4 inspected

Cross-repo 4 repositories inspected 0 open impacts

SonarSource/sonarlint-intellij Inspected
SonarSource/sonarlint-vscode Inspected
SonarSource/sonarlint-language-server Inspected
SonarSource/sonar-java-symbolic-execution Inspected

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Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Fixed issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
0 Dependency risks
93.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

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