Static Code Analysis is essentially a code review performed by a computer. It finds and fixes code quality issues, runs fast, and streamlines manual review. Here’s how to set it up.
Join the DZone community and get the full member experience. Do you suffer from poorly written code? Is your codebase riddled with inconsistencies? Do you experience anxiety every time your code is being reviewed? If you answered ‚yes‘ to any of these questions, static code analysis could help. Static code analysis is the process of analyzing code before it is executed. It provides numerous advantages to developers, and integrating static code analyzers can supercharge your developer workflow. Let’s take a deep dive to understand what static code analysis is, why you should be using it when to start, and how you can quickly set it up in your project. Of all the questions we just raised, this is probably the easiest to answer. As the name says, Static code analysis is the analysis of code in a static or non-executing state. It is the automated equivalent to another developer reading and reviewing your code, except with the added efficiency, speed, and consistency afforded by a computer that no human could match. You might be thinking, „If I write detailed tests of all my units and functional tests at a system level, and they all pass, my code is bug-free, right?“ Yes, it is. Congratulations. But bug-free code is not the same as good code; there’s a lot more that goes into that. That is the domain where static analysis shines. All types of tests, be it unit tests, functional tests, integration tests, visual tests, or regression tests, run the code and then compare the outcome against known expected-state outputs to see if everything works OK. Testing makes sure your code functions as expected. It treats your code as a black box, giving it input and verifying the output. On the other hand, static code analysis analyses its aspects such as readability, consistency, error handling, type checking, and alignment with best practices. Static analysis is not primarily concerned with whether your code provides the expected output but rather with how the code itself is written. It’s an analysis of the quality of source code, not its functionality. To summarise, testing checks if your code works or not, whereas static analysis checks if it is written well or not. Testing and static analysis are complementary to each other, and you should ideally be employing a healthy mix of both in your projects. Any tool that reads the source code, parses it, and suggests improvements is a static code analyzer. There are many tools that fall under the umbrella term of static code analyzers, from linters and formatters to vulnerability scanners and PR reviewers. Let’s go over the main reasons why you should use these in your workflow. Ask any developer, and they’ll corroborate that code reviews are essential. A second pair of eyes can discover issues in your code you probably never could. They might quite possibly suggest better ways to accomplish the task too. Sometimes reading other people’s code can teach the reviewer about some obscure useful functionality that’s already built into the project. Both the reviewer or the reviewee (which might not be a real word but one I will use nonetheless) learn something in the process. But what’s better than one person reviewing your code? How about every open-source developer reviewing it! Static analyzers are powered by a vast library of open-source rules, which means that everyone who has contributed to the tool has indirectly reviewed your code. This makes it very hard to subtle bugs that a couple of human reviewers could miss, to slip by. People make mistakes. Only 15% of codebases that install JSHint, a popular code-review tool for JavaScript, pass without issues. That just goes to show how vital it is to have some computer eyes review your code as well. Consider this program for letting the user pick their favourite fruit.
