findbugs [LSARC/2008/642 FastTrack timeout 10/27/2008]

[Tom Childers]

Petr,

I have several questions about this project.  Since this is an open  
case, I'm changing the cc: to lsarc-ext at sun.com.

I am wondering what requirement we are trying to fill with this  
project. FindBugs is downloadable, gets updated frequently, and is not  
prepackaged on any other platform I know of.  The version you are  
shipping is already out of date; the 1.3.6 release became available a  
few days ago.

1. Why does this inclusion in OpenSolaris improve OpenSolaris? Won't  
the subset of users who want it just download it like other tools? Is  
it worth the 7+MB expansion of the OpenSolaris product?

2. How do you propose to keep the product current, given the  
aggressive release of new versions?

3. If we're going to package it anywhere, why not include it in the  
NetBeans plugin?

Thanks,
-tdc


On Oct 20, 2008, at 12:39 PM, Brian Utterback wrote:

> I am submitting this fast track on behalf of Petr Slechta. Release  
> binding
> is Micro/patch, although no back port is planned at this time. Time  
> out is
> set to 10/27/2008.  Answers to the FOSS checklist and a man page is  
> included
> in the case directory.
>
> Template Version: @(#)sac_nextcase %I% %G% SMI
> This information is Copyright 2008 Sun Microsystems
> 1. Introduction
>    1.1. Project/Component Working Name:
> 	 findbugs
>    1.2. Name of Document Author/Supplier:
> 	 Author:  Petr Slechta
>    1.3  Date of This Document:
> 	20 October, 2008
> 4. Technical Description
> Proposal:
>
>        Integrate FindBugs into Solaris.
>
>
> Detail:
>
>        FindBugs[1] is an Java application which uses static analysis  
> techniques
>        to analyze Java code. FindBugs is very useful tool for any  
> Java developer
>        because it finds bugs and problematic places in Java programs.
>        Thus any developer may use it to improve quality of his/her  
> work.
>
>        FindBugs has GUI and may be also executed in CLI mode. It  
> stores results
>        in plain text or XML.
>
>        The most recent version of FindBugs at the time of this  
> writing is 1.3.5.
>        The product was last updated by the community on 2008-09-13.  
> The project
>        and the community are active; the releases are on regular  
> basis.
>        As of July, 2008, FindBugs has been downloaded more than  
> 700,000 times.
>        There is plugin for NetBeans IDE [5] that integrates FindBugs  
> into the IDE.
>        Porting of FindBugs into OpenSolaris may help also with  
> adoption of NetBeans IDE.
>
>
> Exported Interfaces:
>
>        NAME                         STABILITY    NOTES
>
>        SUNWfindbugs                 committed    package name
>
>        /usr/bin/findbugs            uncommitted  startup script
>        /usr/findbugs                uncommitted  root directory for  
> FindBugs installations
>
>
> Imported Interfaces:
>
>        NAME                         STABILITY    NOTES
>
>        JAVA_HOME                    committed    environment  
> variable (widely used)
>
>        FindBugs require Java 1.5 or later.
>
>
> References:
>
> [1] http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/
> [2] Finding Bugs is Easy, a paper that appeared in the December 2004  
> issue of SIGPLAN Notices.
>    An extended abstract of the paper appeared in the OOPSLA 2004  
> Companion, as part of the
>    Onward! track of the conference. (see http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/publications.html)
> [3] A Comparison of Bug Finding Tools for Java, by Nick Rutar,  
> Christian Almazan, and Jeff Foster,
>    compares several bug checkers for Java, including FindBugs.
>    (see http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/publications.html)
> [4] Chris Grindstaff has written a two-part article about FindBugs  
> (Part 1, Part 2) for
>    IBM developerWorks. (see http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/publications.html)
> [5] http://www.netbeans.org
> [6] 6759125: FindBugs 1.3.5 to be included into SFW consolidation
>
> 6. Resources and Schedule
>    6.4. Steering Committee requested information
>   	6.4.1. Consolidation C-team Name:
> 		SFW
>    6.5. ARC review type: FastTrack
>    6.6. ARC Exposure: open
>