[wtp-dev] Removing dead code from WTP

[Jeffrey Liu <jeffliu@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The tool described below can help us
find dead code that are no longer used. I did a quick scan against a few
of the WTP plug-ins, and it's amazing how much stuff came up!

Each component should scan its plug-ins
for dead code and remove anything that is not needed. I have opened bug
150849 [1] to track the progress of this work. If you have reviewed your
component, please add a comment to the bug and indicate which component
has been reviewed.

[1] https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=150849

Thanks,

Jeffrey Liu
IBM Rational Software
IBM Toronto Lab.
8200 Warden Ave. Markham, Ontario, L6G 1C7
Internal mail: D3/UMZ/8200/MKM (D3-268)
T/L: 969 3531
Tel: (905) 413 3531
Fax: (905) 413 4920
jeffliu@xxxxxxxxxx

----- Forwarded by John Arthorne/Ottawa/IBM on 14/07/2006 01:34 PM -----

John Arthorne/Ottawa/IBM

14/07/2006 01:34 PM

To	eclipse-dev@xxxxxxxxxxx
cc
Subject	Core tools updates

Over time, plugins tend to accumulate dead code - classes, methods, and
fields that are no longer used.  Dead code has maintenance cost and
adds to the download and install size of Eclipse, so it's worth finding
and deleting such code where appropriate.  The org.eclipse.core.tools
plugin has a utility for locating unused methods and fields, and Martin
Aeschlimann from JDT recently provided a patch to remove false matches
and present results in the Search view.  To use the tool:

1) Download org.eclipse.core.tools v1.4.0 from here:

http://www.eclipse.org/eclipse/platform-core/downloads.php

2) Install the new plugins in a product extension (only org.eclipse.core.tools
is actually needed for this utility). Or, add to an existing install and
restart with -clean. 

3) Startup with a workspace that contains all projects that are likely
to reference the code in question (test suites, fragments, friend plugins,
etc) 

4) Select one or more Java projects, packages, or types in the Package
Explorer, and invoke "Find Unreferenced Members" from the context
menu. For most Eclipse projects, selecting all non-API packages is a good
start, although it is possible for API packages to contain unused package-private
members, or protected members in final classes that can be deleted.

5) Browse the results in the Search view.  The results can be sorted
by name or path.  Keep in mind that classes instantiated through reflection,
such as executable extensions, may appear to be unreferenced even though
they are used. 

In other "core tools" news, the workspace rebuilder plugin has
also been updated for Eclipse 3.x.  This plugin will help restore
workspaces that are hopelessly corrupt and cannot otherwise be started.
 It is available from the same download link mentioned in 1) above.

John