Add rewrite support for gradle.GradleBestPractices

[Pankraz76]

Add rewrite support for gradle.GradleBestPractices

I’d like to propose integrating Google’s Error Prone and its Picnic extension (demonstrated in Automating Away Bugs with Error Prone | PlatformCon 2023) to enable automated bug fixes via rewrite rules. This would complement Checkstyle’s static analysis capabilities by addressing semantic bugs rather than stylistic issues.

Motivation

Error Prone’s refaster/rewrite rules can automatically:

• Fix common bug patterns (e.g., String.equals() misuse)
• Modernize code (e.g., JDK migration helpers)
• Enforce best practices (e.g., null-check improvements)

Real-world adoptions show tangible benefits:

• Issue #17487: Introduce Rewrite covering S1144: Unused "private" methods should be removed checkstyle/checkstyle#17545
• Fix #5953: [java] PoC: Add rewrite support for errorprone.refasterrules pmd/pmd#5956
• Introduce Rewrite & PMD covering S1144: Unused "private" methods should be removed opensearch-project/OpenSearch#18791
• PoC: Add rewrite support for errorprone.refasterrules diffplug/spotless#2576
• PoC: Add rewrite support for errorprone.refasterrules apache/kafka#20219

Proposal

1. Add support for errorprone.refasterrules-based rewrites
2. Implement with opt-in adoption (no breaking changes)
3. Include suppression mechanisms for API constraints

Discussion Points

• Need consensus on:
• Scope of auto-fixes
• Preferred suppression strategy
• Integration approach

Next Steps

I’m happy to:

• Prepare a PoC demonstrating the value
• Collaborate on implementation strategy
• Address any concerns about compatibility

relates to:

• implement IDE agnostic configuration with editorconfig.org checkstyle/checkstyle#16543

Hi

Is this any good?

Might consider these changes suggested by error.prone.

Thanks.

---

By submitting this pull request, I confirm that my contribution is made under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license
and can be relicensed under the terms of the LGPL v2.1 license in the future at the maintainers' discretion.
For more information on licensing, please check here.

---

[hibernate-github-bot]

Thanks for your pull request!

This pull request does not follow the contribution rules. Could you have a look?

❌ All commit messages should start with a JIRA issue key matching pattern HHH-\d+
    ↳ Offending commits: [fdf465d]

› This message was automatically generated.

[Pankraz76]

Is this any good? Kindly request some feedback.

To pitch this, as there is no issue or discussion section for me enabled to post, im providing the issue the PoC in one thread. Please excuse this.

Thanks for considering.

[Pankraz76]

BUILD SUCCESSFUL

[gavinking]

We're not interested in this at this time. I'm going to close this.