Use Enhanced For Loop

ID

java.use_enhanced_for

Severity

info

Remediation Complexity

trivial

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Efficiency

Language

Java

Tags

efficiency

Description

Reports traditional indexed for loops that iterate sequentially over an array (.length) or collection (.size()) and could be replaced with an enhanced for-each loop.

Rationale

Traditional indexed for-loops like for (int i = 0; i < array.length; i++) are verbose and error-prone: the loop variable can be misused, off-by-one errors are common, and the intent is less clear. When the loop simply iterates over every element in order, the enhanced for-each syntax is cleaner and eliminates the index variable.

// Bad — verbose indexed loop
String[] names = getNames();
for (int i = 0; i < names.length; i++) {
    process(names[i]);
}

List<Item> items = getItems();
for (int i = 0; i < items.size(); i++) {
    handle(items.get(i));
}

Remediation

Use the enhanced for-each loop when you only need sequential access to each element and do not need the index itself:

// Good — enhanced for-each
for (String name : names) {
    process(name);
}

for (Item item : items) {
    handle(item);
}

If the index is needed for more than just element access (e.g., logging position, modifying elements in place, skipping elements), the traditional indexed loop remains appropriate.

References