java:S1068 false negative on unused private static fields declared in a `record`

SonarQube Server / Community Build
1

Product: SonarQube Community Build 26.5.0.122743
sonar-java version: sonar-java 8.29 (build 43460)
sonar-java SE version: sonar-java-symbolic-execution 8.16.4 (build 1912)
Java source level: 21 (javac 21, source/target 21)

Rule

java:S1068 — Unused “private” fields should be removed

Description

S1068 flags private fields that are declared but never read. When such a field is declared inside a regular class, the rule correctly fires. When the exact same field declaration is moved into a record, S1068 stops firing — the rule appears to skip records entirely, even for declared static fields that are by definition not record components and therefore have the same unused-field semantics as in a plain class.

Reproducer

public class S1068ClassBefore {
    private static final String DEFAULT = "x";   // BEFORE — S1068 fires (MAJOR).
    private int x;
    public S1068ClassBefore(int x) { this.x = x; }
    public int getX() { return x; }
}

public record S1068RecordAfter(int x) {
    private static final String DEFAULT = "x";   // AFTER — S1068 does NOT fire.
}

Expected behavior

A private static final field declared inside a record is not a record component (record components live in the header parentheses) and behaves like any other class-level private static final field with respect to reachability: if no code reads it, it is dead. S1068 should treat the field declaration uniformly across class and record declarations. It should raise on DEFAULT in both files.

Actual behavior

  • S1068ClassBefore: java:S1068 (MAJOR) raised on DEFAULT with message
    “Remove this unused ‘DEFAULT’ private field.”
  • S1068RecordAfter: no S1068 violation, even though the field has identical declaration, visibility, modifiers, and zero readers.
4

Thank you for the report! I’ve created a ticket, SONARJAVA-6425, to track the resolution. S1068 is an older rule, and we likely missed updating it when we added support for records.