How to Install and Use Alibaba’s Java Code Guidelines Plugin for IDEA and Eclipse

Plugin Download

Download the plugin from the official GitHub repository: https://github.com/alibaba/p3c or search for "p3c" on GitHub.

Alibaba Java Development Handbook IDEA Plugin – Installation Guide

Install via JetBrains Marketplace

1. Open Settings >> Plugins >> Browse repositories...

2. Search for "Alibaba" and locate the Alibaba Java Code Guidelines plugin, click Install and restart the IDE.

Note: The plugin zip is hosted on JetBrains CDN, which may cause download timeouts.

Install via Local Zip Package

1. Open the plugin page in IDEA.

2. Choose Settings >> Plugins >> Install plugin from disk... , select the downloaded zip file, and restart the IDE.

Minimum supported IDEA version: 14.1 (build 141.0). Users of IDEA 14 should upgrade to 14.1.7.

JDK requirement: The plugin is packaged with JDK 1.7; running IDEA with JDK 1.6 will cause an Unsupported major.minor version 51.0 error.

Chinese Font Fix

Set UI font to Microsoft Yahei Light via Appearance & Behavior >> Appearance >> UI Options .

Switch language to English and restart to avoid garbled characters.

Plugin Usage

The plugin implements 41 rules from the Alibaba coding standards, mainly based on PMD, with 4 IDEA‑specific rules providing real‑time inspection and Quick‑Fix support.

Detection Modes: Real‑time detection (default, highlights violations as you code) and manual trigger.

Real‑time detection highlights violations, supports Quick‑Fix, and can be disabled via Inspection settings.

Hovering over highlighted code shows a tooltip with details.

Quick‑Fix

Press Alt+Enter to open the Intention menu and apply rule‑specific Quick‑Fix actions.

Scanning

Trigger scans manually via:

Right‑click menu on a file, directory, or project.

Toolbar button (scope depends on current focus).

Shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J (customizable).

Scan Results

Results appear in IDEA’s Run Inspection By Name view, grouped by severity: Blocker, Critical, Major.

Enable Autoscroll To Source to open source files directly from the result panel.

Quick‑Fix can be applied directly from the result panel (IDEA 14/15 also support the light‑bulb shortcut).

Alibaba Java Development Handbook Eclipse Plugin – Installation Guide

Prerequisites: JDK 1.8, Eclipse 4+.

Install via Help >> Install New Software... and provide the update site URL: https://p3c.alibaba.com/plugin/eclipse/update. Select Ali‑CodeAnalysis and follow the prompts, then restart Eclipse.

Note: Some users experienced missing menu items; upgrading JDK from 1.6 to 1.8 resolved the issue.

Note: The plugin may trigger background threads of the JPA plugin; uninstall JPA if not needed.

Plugin Usage

The Eclipse plugin implements 53 rules, mostly based on PMD, with 4 Eclipse‑specific rules offering Quick‑Fix.

Key rule examples:

All overridden methods must be annotated with @Override.

Keywords such as if, for, while, switch, do must be followed by a space before the opening parenthesis.

Use uppercase L for long literals.

Call equals on a constant or a non‑null object to avoid NullPointerException.

Scanning can be triggered via right‑click menu or toolbar button, similar to the IDEA workflow.

Scan Results

Results are displayed in a concise panel grouped by severity, with quick navigation to rule details and support for Quick‑Fix on the four Eclipse‑specific rules.

Internationalization

The plugin supports English UI; switch language in settings if needed.