Unused Private Function

kotlin.unused_private_function

Severity

low

Remediation Complexity

medium

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

medium

Resource

Code Smell

Language

Kotlin

Description

Reports private functions that have no call site or function reference within the enclosing file. Because private visibility limits the scope to the current file, a lack of any local usage means the function is dead code.

Rationale

Unused private functions accumulate over time as code evolves — they may be leftover from a refactoring or a feature that was never completed. They add noise to the codebase, increase compile time, and can confuse readers who wonder whether the function is "important but not called yet."

class Calculator {

    fun add(a: Int, b: Int): Int = a + b

    // Bad — never called
    private fun legacyCompute(x: Int): Int { // FLAW
        return x * 2
    }
}

Remediation

Remove the unused function, or, if it is still needed, add a call site or promote it to internal / public visibility.

References

Kotlin — Visibility modifiers