Avoid empty block statements

Docs > Datadog Security > Code Security > Static Code Analysis (SAST) > SAST Rules > Avoid empty block statements

Metadata

ID: javascript-best-practices/no-empty

Language: JavaScript

Severity: Error

Category: Best Practices

CWE: 670

Description

Empty or non-functional blocks in the code can be misleading and lead to maintenance difficulties. They can also lead to a false sense of security or functionality. While they may not directly introduce security issues, their presence can suggest that some logic or error handling is implemented when it is not.

You can avoid this problem by including a comment to indicate that you intend to leave the block empty. For example:

while (runIteration()) {
  // do nothing
}

Non-Compliant Code Examples

try {} catch (ex) {throw ex}
try { foo() } catch (ex) {}
try { foo() } catch (ex) {throw ex} finally {}
if (foo) {}
while (foo) {}
for (;foo;) {}
switch(foo) {}
switch (foo) { /* empty */ }
try {} catch (ex) {}
try { foo(); } catch (ex) {} finally {}
try {} catch (ex) {} finally {}
try { foo(); } catch (ex) {} finally {}
(function() { }())
var foo = () => {}
function foo() { }
function foo() { 
    
}

Compliant Code Examples

if (foo) { bar() }
while (foo) { bar() }
for (;foo;) { bar() }
try { foo() } catch (ex) { foo() }
switch(foo) {case 'foo': break;}
if (foo) {/* empty */}
while (foo) {/* empty */}
for (;foo;) {/* empty */}
try { foo() } catch (ex) {/* empty */}
try { foo() } catch (ex) {// empty
}
try { foo() } finally {// empty
}
try { foo() } finally {// test
}
try { foo() } finally {
    
    // hi i am off no use
}
try { foo() } catch (ex) {/* test111 */}
if (foo) { bar() } else { // nothing in me 
}
if (foo) { bar() } else { /**/
}
if (foo) { bar() } else { //
}
function foo() { 
  const test = {};  
}