Run Checker Framework with Bazel - bazel

Question

Consider this github repository. https://github.com/dfabulich/bazel-checker-framework-bug
It includes a sample X.java file that flagrantly violates the rules of the #Nonnull annotation.
import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
public class X {
public static void main(String[] args) {
new X().exec();
}
public void exec() {
System.out.println(this.method());
}
#Nonnull
private String method() {
return null;
}
}
The WORKSPACE file just includes checker.jar.
maven_jar(
name="checker",
artifact="org.checkerframework:checker:2.3.1"
)
The BUILD file invokes the compiler with the checker framework configured as a java_plugin.
java_library(
name='x',
srcs=['X.java'],
deps=['#checker//jar'],
plugins=['checker'],
)
java_plugin(
name='checker',
deps=['#checker//jar'],
processor_class='org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.NullnessChecker',
)
When I bazel build x, the build fails with this error:
error: InvocationTargetException when invoking constructor for class org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.KeyForAnnotatedTypeFactory; Underlying cause: java.lang.StackOverflowError; The Checker Framework crashed. Please report the crash. To see the full stack trace invoke the compiler with -AprintErrorStack
When I comment out the plugins line in the BUILD file, the build succeeds without error. (That makes sense, but I ultimately want the Checker Framework to fail this build with a return.type.incompatible error.)
Am I making a mistake here? Is this a bug in Bazel?

Answer 1

I got a good answer on the bazel-discuss mailing list, telling me to try NullAway, an Error Prone plugin that depends on the Checker Framework.
The github repo now includes a working example using NullAway, like this.
WORKSPACE:
maven_jar(
name='jsr305',
artifact='com.google.code.findbugs:jsr305:3.0.2',
)
maven_jar(
name="nullaway",
artifact="com.uber.nullaway:nullaway:0.3.2"
)
maven_jar(
name="guava",
artifact="com.google.guava:guava:22.0",
)
BUILD:
java_library(
name='x',
srcs=['X.java'],
deps=['#jsr305//jar'],
plugins=['nullaway'],
javacopts=[
'-Xep:NullAway:ERROR',
'-XepOpt:NullAway:AnnotatedPackages=com.example',
],
)
java_plugin(
name='nullaway',
deps=[
'#nullaway//jar',
'#guava//jar',
],
)
(The dependency on guava is unfortunate; it's required because without Guava, NullAway refuses to load.)