groovy/generalHelper.groovy - Software Smells Analysis

Classification based on industry-standard taxonomy: Code Smells (Fowler) → Design Smells (Suryanarayana)

Domain Classification: 7 domains, 21 functions. See Domain Mapping

1. Code Smells

Source: Fowler, M. (1999). Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code

Applicable Categories: Fowler defines 5 categories of Code Smells: Bloaters, Object-Orientation Abusers, Change Preventers, Dispensables, and Couplers. Since Jenkins Pipeline Helper files are procedural scripts (not OOP classes), only the following categories are applicable:

Category Applicable Applied Smells

Bloaters ✓ Long Method, Large File, Primitive Obsession, Data Clumps

Change Preventers ✓ Divergent Change, Shotgun Surgery

Dispensables ✓ Dead Code, Duplicated Code

Object-Orientation Abusers ✗ (not applicable - no inheritance/polymorphism)

Couplers ✗ (not applicable - no class relationships)

Category	Applicable	Applied Smells
Bloaters	✓	Long Method, Large File, Primitive Obsession, Data Clumps
Change Preventers	✓	Divergent Change, Shotgun Surgery
Dispensables	✓	Dead Code, Duplicated Code
Object-Orientation Abusers	✗	(not applicable - no inheritance/polymorphism)
Couplers	✗	(not applicable - no class relationships)

1.1 Change Preventers (with Severity Criteria)

Severity Criteria

Metric	Low	Medium	High
Impact Scope	1-2 pipelines	3-4 pipelines	5 pipelines
Modification Cost	1-5 locations	6-10 locations	11+ locations

Divergent Change (Scope: File Level)

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Definition: A single class/file is frequently changed for several different reasons

Scope: File Level

Divergent Change Cases in generalHelper.groovy:

Change Reason Affected Functions Count

Git policy change cloneOrUpdateRepo, getDefaultBranch, checkoutBranch, mergeBranchIfNeeded, isBranchUpToDateWithRemote, isBranchUpToDateWithMain, tryMerge, getCurrentCommitHash 8

Bitbucket API change getFullCommitHash, sendBuildStatus 2

Web Server structure change publishTestResultsHtmlToWebServer, publishBuildResultsToWebServer, cleanMergedBranchFromWebServer, publishGroovyDocToWebServer 4

SonarQube settings change checkQualityGateStatus 1

Parsing rule change parseJson, parseTicketNumber 2

File System policy change cleanUpPRBranch 1

Logging policy change logMessage, closeLogfiles 2

Severity Evidence: - Impact Scope: High (5 pipelines depend on this file) - Modification Cost: High (7 different change reasons in single file)

Related: Domain mapping identified 7 domains in this file. See Domain Mapping

Change Reason	Affected Functions	Count
Git policy change	`cloneOrUpdateRepo`, `getDefaultBranch`, `checkoutBranch`, `mergeBranchIfNeeded`, `isBranchUpToDateWithRemote`, `isBranchUpToDateWithMain`, `tryMerge`, `getCurrentCommitHash`	8
Bitbucket API change	`getFullCommitHash`, `sendBuildStatus`	2
Web Server structure change	`publishTestResultsHtmlToWebServer`, `publishBuildResultsToWebServer`, `cleanMergedBranchFromWebServer`, `publishGroovyDocToWebServer`	4
SonarQube settings change	`checkQualityGateStatus`	1
Parsing rule change	`parseJson`, `parseTicketNumber`	2
File System policy change	`cleanUpPRBranch`	1
Logging policy change	`logMessage`, `closeLogfiles`	2

Shotgun Surgery (Scope: Cross-file/System Level)

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Definition: A single change requires modifications to multiple files

Scope: Cross-file/System Level

Shotgun Surgery Cases in generalHelper.groovy:

Function DLX CI DLX CD JS CI JS CD Jenkins CI Total Locations

sendBuildStatus 3 4 3 5 3 18

parseJson 2 2 2 2 2 10

checkoutBranch 1 1 1 1 1 5 + 1 internal

getFullCommitHash 1 1 1 1 1 5

Severity Evidence: - Impact Scope: High (5 pipeline files depend on this helper) - Modification Cost: High (18 locations for sendBuildStatus)

Related: Data from SRP Analysis Section 2 (Cohesion Table)

Function	DLX CI	DLX CD	JS CI	JS CD	Jenkins CI	Total Locations
`sendBuildStatus`	3	4	3	5	3	18
`parseJson`	2	2	2	2	2	10
`checkoutBranch`	1	1	1	1	1	5 + 1 internal
`getFullCommitHash`	1	1	1	1	1	5

1.2 Other Code Smells (Evidence Only)

Bloaters

Smell	Evidence
Long Method	`checkQualityGateStatus` (94 lines), `closeLogfiles` (45 lines), `cloneOrUpdateRepo` (42 lines), `cleanUpPRBranch` (40 lines)
Large File	656 lines, 21 functions, 7 domains
Primitive Obsession	`"/var/www/html"` (11x), `env.SSH_KEY` (10x), `env.DLX_WEB_HOST_URL` (10x), `"vconadmin:vconadmin"` (3x)
Data Clumps	`remoteProjectFolderName` (14x), `ticketNumber` (12x), `workspace` (11x), `commitHash` (8x)

Dispensables

Smell	Evidence
Dead Code	`getCurrentCommitHash`, `closeLogfiles` (2 functions, 53 lines total)
Duplicated Code	SSH command pattern (6x), SCP pattern (4x), chmod/chown pattern (4x), `git fetch origin` (3x)

2. Design Smells (Principle-Based)

Source: Suryanarayana, G. et al. (2014). Refactoring for Software Design Smells

Applicable Categories: Suryanarayana defines 4 categories based on OO design principles: Abstraction, Encapsulation, Modularization, and Hierarchy. Since Jenkins Pipeline Helper files are procedural scripts (not OOP classes), only the following categories are applicable:

Category Applicable Applied Smells

Abstraction ✓ Multifaceted Abstraction, Missing Abstraction, Unutilized Abstraction

Encapsulation △ Missing Encapsulation

Modularization ✓ Insufficient Modularization, Hub-like Modularization

Hierarchy ✗ (not applicable - no inheritance)

Note: Incomplete Abstraction is not applied because determining "expected operations" requires design specification that does not exist.

Category	Applicable	Applied Smells
Abstraction	✓	Multifaceted Abstraction, Missing Abstraction, Unutilized Abstraction
Encapsulation	△	Missing Encapsulation
Modularization	✓	Insufficient Modularization, Hub-like Modularization
Hierarchy	✗	(not applicable - no inheritance)

2.1 Abstraction Smells

Multifaceted Abstraction

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Definition: "An abstraction has multiple responsibilities assigned to it"

Evidence: - 7 responsibilities in single file: Git, Bitbucket, Web Server, SonarQube, Parsing, File System, Logging - 21 functions across 7 different responsibilities

Missing Abstraction

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Definition: "Clumps of data or encoded strings are used instead of creating a class or an interface"

Evidence:

Concept Current State Occurrences

Web server path "/var/www/html" hardcoded 11

SSH key env.SSH_KEY scattered 10

Web host URL env.DLX_WEB_HOST_URL scattered 10

User account "vconadmin:vconadmin" hardcoded 3

SonarQube URL "http://localhost:9000/sonarqube" hardcoded 2

Concept	Current State	Occurrences
Web server path	`"/var/www/html"` hardcoded	11
SSH key	`env.SSH_KEY` scattered	10
Web host URL	`env.DLX_WEB_HOST_URL` scattered	10
User account	`"vconadmin:vconadmin"` hardcoded	3
SonarQube URL	`"http://localhost:9000/sonarqube"` hardcoded	2

Unutilized Abstraction

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Definition: "An abstraction is left unused (either not directly used or not reachable)"

Evidence:

Function Lines Status

getCurrentCommitHash 8 Declared but never called by any pipeline

closeLogfiles 45 Declared but never called by any pipeline

Function	Lines	Status
`getCurrentCommitHash`	8	Declared but never called by any pipeline
`closeLogfiles`	45	Declared but never called by any pipeline

2.2 Encapsulation Smells

Missing Encapsulation

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Definition: "The encapsulation of implementation variations in a type is missing"

Evidence:

Pattern Occurrences Affected Functions

SSH command execution 6 4 Web Server functions

SCP file transfer 4 4 Web Server functions

chmod/chown permission 4 4 Web Server functions

git fetch origin 3 cloneOrUpdateRepo, mergeBranchIfNeeded, isBranchUpToDateWithRemote

Pattern	Occurrences	Affected Functions
SSH command execution	6	4 Web Server functions
SCP file transfer	4	4 Web Server functions
chmod/chown permission	4	4 Web Server functions
`git fetch origin`	3	`cloneOrUpdateRepo`, `mergeBranchIfNeeded`, `isBranchUpToDateWithRemote`

2.3 Modularization Smells

Insufficient Modularization

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Definition: "An abstraction that has not been completely decomposed, and a further decomposition could reduce its size, implementation complexity, or both."

Evidence:

Metric Value

File size 656 lines

Function count 21

Domain count 7

Metric	Value
File size	656 lines
Function count	21
Domain count	7

Hub-like Modularization

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Definition: "An abstraction has dependencies (incoming and outgoing) with a large number of other abstractions."

Evidence:

Direction Dependency Count

Incoming Pipeline files that load() this helper 5

Outgoing Git CLI calls 18

Outgoing Linux command calls 11

Outgoing SSH calls 6

Outgoing SCP calls 4

Outgoing Python script calls 2

Outgoing SonarQube API calls (curl) 2

Direction	Dependency	Count
Incoming	Pipeline files that `load()` this helper	5
Outgoing	Git CLI calls	18
Outgoing	Linux command calls	11
Outgoing	SSH calls	6
Outgoing	SCP calls	4
Outgoing	Python script calls	2
Outgoing	SonarQube API calls (curl)	2

Conclusion

Software Smells Summary: - Code Level: Divergent Change (7 change reasons), Shotgun Surgery (18+ locations across 5 files) - Design Level: 7 domains not modularized, primitive strings instead of abstractions, 2 unutilized functions

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