uber/NullAway

Reported error messages: highlight syntax element references

Closed

#1,619 opened on Jun 23, 2026

 (1 comment) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Java (288 forks)batch import
enhancementgood first issue

Repository metrics

Stars
 (3,462 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (Avg merge 3d 23h) (14 merged PRs in 30d)

Description

Many error messages currently reported by NullAway reference syntax elements as plain text, making a bit annoying to spot them in the middle of such verbose messages, like these:

[NullAway] initializer method does not guarantee @NonNull field points (line 58) is initialized along all control-flow paths (remember to check for exceptions or early returns).
[NullAway] dereferenced expression path is @Nullable
[NullAway] dereferenced expression that is @Nullable

It would be extremely convenient if all the syntax element references were highlighted through quotation marks:

[NullAway] initializer method does not guarantee @NonNull field 'points' (line 58) is initialized along all control-flow paths (remember to check for exceptions or early returns).
[NullAway] dereferenced expression 'path' is @Nullable
[NullAway] dereferenced expression 'that' is @Nullable

This way, syntax element references would unambiguously stick out, easing their evaluation — BTW, some NullAway error messages (see here below) already apply such highlighting, it's just a matter of harmonizing the whole system:

[NullAway] passing @Nullable parameter 'Times.calendar(value)' where @NonNull is required

Contributor guide