Upgrading to a new Java version: code analysis

Question

I was wandering if there is a code analysis tool able to suggest code changes when upgrading to a new Java version.

For example:

• look for .close() calls for autocloseable resources when upgrading to Java 7
• look for multiple catch clauses with the same body when upgrading to Java 7
• look for unnecessary manual boxing and unboxing when upgrading to Java 5
• ...

Are there specific tools or rules by existing ones (e.g., Checkstyle) that could help?

Answer 1

IntelliJ has a set of inspections tagged as "Language migration", that can help you spot locations where you could benefit from new language structures such as the enhanced for loop.

It can even automatically apply such advices to your whole codebase at once - if it's a no-risk transformation of course.