Java Maintenance Skill

REFERENCE MODE: This skill provides reference material. Load specific standards on-demand based on current task.

Java code maintenance standards for identifying, prioritizing, and executing refactoring work. This skill covers compliance checking, maintenance prioritization, and refactoring triggers.

Prerequisites

This skill applies to all Java projects requiring maintenance or refactoring.

Workflow

Step 1: Load Prioritization Framework

CRITICAL: Load this standard for any maintenance work.

Read: standards/maintenance-prioritization.md

This provides foundational rules for:

• High priority: API contract issues, code organization
• Medium priority: Method design, maintainability
• Low priority: Style and conventions

Step 2: Load Additional Standards (As Needed)

Refactoring Triggers (load for code analysis):

Read: standards/refactoring-triggers.md

Use when: Identifying when code needs refactoring based on metrics and patterns.

Compliance Checklist (load for verification):

Read: standards/compliance-checklist.md

Use when: Verifying code meets all Java development standards.

Key Rules Summary

Priority Categories

High Priority (API/Contract Issues)

• Missing @NonNull annotations on public APIs
• Inconsistent null safety patterns
• Poor error handling
• Single Responsibility violations

Medium Priority (Maintainability)

• Long methods (>50 lines)
• High parameter counts (>4 without objects)
• High cyclomatic complexity (>15)
• Poor naming conventions

Low Priority (Style)

• Formatting inconsistencies
• Import organization
• Comment style variations

Refactoring Triggers

// TRIGGER: Method too long
// Refactor when method exceeds 50 lines

// TRIGGER: Too many parameters
// Refactor when method has >4 parameters
// Use parameter objects

// TRIGGER: High complexity
// Refactor when cyclomatic complexity >15
// Extract methods, use polymorphism

Compliance Verification

# Run analysis
mvn verify -Pcode-analysis

# Check coverage
mvn jacoco:report

# Run Sonar
mvn sonar:sonar

Related Skills

• pm-dev-java:java-core – Core Java patterns
• pm-dev-java:junit-core – Test coverage requirements
• pm-dev-java:javadoc – Documentation standards

Standards Reference