PMD scans Java source code and looks for potential problems like: Possible bugs - empty try/catch/finally/switch statements Dead code - unused local variables, parameters and private methods Suboptimal code - wasteful String/StringBuffer usage Overcomplicated expressions - unnecessary if statements, for loops that could be while loops Duplicate code - copied/pasted code means copied/pasted bugs You can download everything from here, and you can get an overview of all the rules at the rulesets index page. PMD is integrated with JDeveloper, Eclipse, JEdit, JBuilder, BlueJ, CodeGuide, NetBeans/Sun Java Studio Enterprise/Creator, IntelliJ IDEA, TextPad, Maven, Ant, Gel, JCreator, and Emacs. Welcome BlueJ users! Notes on installing the PMD extension for BlueJ are here.