Issue #2551: added deprecated Check for backwards compatibility

config/pmd.xml

@@ -170,6 +170,12 @@
     or @Image='AbstractCheck' or @Image='AbstractJavadocCheck']"/>
     </properties>
   </rule>
+  <rule ref="rulesets/java/design.xml/AbstractClassWithoutAnyMethod">
+    <properties>
+     <!-- Can not change API -->
+    <property name="violationSuppressXPath" value="//ClassOrInterfaceDeclaration[@Image='Check']"/>
+    </properties>
+  </rule>
 
   <rule ref="rulesets/java/design.xml/AvoidDeeplyNestedIfStmts">
     <properties>

src/main/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/api/Check.java

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// checkstyle: Checks Java source code for adherence to a set of rules.
+// Copyright (C) 2001-2016 the original author or authors.
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api;
+
+/**
+ * The base class for checks.
+ *
+ * @deprecated Class was renamed to support the abstract class naming
+ *             convention. This class remains only to support backwards
+ *             compatibility. Use {@link AbstractCheck} instead.
+ * @author Oliver Burn
+ * @see <a href="{@docRoot}/../writingchecks.html" target="_top">Writing your
+ *      own checks</a>
+ * @noinspection EmptyClass
+ */
+@Deprecated
+public abstract class Check extends AbstractCheck {
+}

src/test/java/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/api/CheckTest.java

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// checkstyle: Checks Java source code for adherence to a set of rules.
+// Copyright (C) 2001-2016 the original author or authors.
+//
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class CheckTest {
+    @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
+    @Test
+    public void testInstanceOfCheck() {
+        final Object module = new Check() {
+            @Override
+            public int[] getDefaultTokens() {
+                return null;
+            }
+        };
+
+        Assert.assertTrue("Check must be an instance of AbstractCheck - 1",
+                module instanceof AbstractCheck);
+        Assert.assertTrue("Check must be an instance of AbstractCheck - 2",
+                AbstractCheck.class.isInstance(module));
+        Assert.assertTrue("Check must be able to be assignable to AbstractCheck",
+                AbstractCheck.class.isAssignableFrom(Check.class));
+    }
+}