apache / apache/netbeans

Refactor record to class and vice versa

Open
#7,762 2 comments 2 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
hints Java kind:feature
Dominant language
Java
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Description

### Description

NetBeans should assist in changing records to classes and classes to records.

It already provides a hint to convert some classes to an interface, for example an empty class like
```java
public class Empty {
}
```
can be converted to
```java
public interface Empty {
}
```
with two clicks.

A record like
```java
public record R(String name) {
}
```
should be converted to something like
```java
public class R {

private String name;

public R(final String name) {
this.name = name;
}

public String name() {
return name;
}
}
```
and a class
```java
public class C {

private String name;

public C(String name) {
this.name = name;
}

public String getName() {
return name;
}
}
```
to
```java
public record C(String name) {

public String getName() {
return name;
}
}
```
Unfortunately classes and records have different naming conventions for getters, but that can be addressed in further refactoring steps.

### Use case/motivation

Sometimes I start with a class or a record and later the other type seems to be more appropriate, but it is tedious to do the conversion by hand.

### Related issues

Currently the refactoring action „Move inner to outer level“ converts records to classes, but I don’t think it should do that and it’s broken anyway (#7044, #6139).

### Are you willing to submit a pull request?

No

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Review the existing class-to-interface hint and the “Move inner to outer level” refactoring, along with related issues #7044 and #6139. Done means NetBeans can offer record-to-class and class-to-record conversions while preserving the demonstrated members; clarify behavior and tests before implementation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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