[java] CommentDefaultAccessModifier - false-positive for MethodSource in nested classes

[Wolf2323]

[java] CommentDefaultAccessModifier - false-positive for MethodSource in nested classes

[jsotuyod]

Back in PMD 6.55.0 if, the container class had any of the ignored annotations, all methods were ignored (and therefore the @Nested implied plurals() was not flagged).

This behavior was removed in PMD 7.0.0. Based on the documentation for the rule and existing tests, this behavior was not intended, and actually a false-negative. Moreover, @MethodSource doesn't impose any requirements on method visibility that I am aware of, unlike @Test which under JUnit 5 expects package-private to be used prominently.

[inkarkat]

Test methods default to package-private because visibility isn't much of a concern with tests (there's little inheritance and as non-production code this isn't critical, anyway), so readability (i.e. no clutter, no /* default */ comment) trumps minimal visibility.
IMO that reasoning not just applies to test methods, but also nested test classes, methods that supply arguments to parameterized tests, and any other goodie that has been added (in JUnit 5).

If PMD is forcing users to tweak its default rules for test classes, I think that's unfortunate, especially because complex XPath expressions have to be used (targeting the (outer) test class name, but also including any nested test classes). Many projects adhere to Maven's file system structure (i.e. separation of test classes in src/test vs. src/main); it would be really great if PMD allowed exclusions based on that distinction.

[adangel]

@Wolf2323 you can make the method plurals() private. See also #4975, which has exactly this example. PMD 7.2.0 won't warn about such private methods anymore.