What's the Deal With Static Code Analysis?

Programming mandates essential parts of our everyday lives. Airtight code ensures there aren't any unwanted outcomes that may pierce the security of your system or just end up crashing it in the end. Writing code is hard and often tedious work, so how do programmers quickly and efficiently revise their code to make it as refined as possible? One of the things they do is Static Code Analysis.

What is Static Code Analysis?

Static Code Analysis is the action of searching for bugs in your code while not running it. You aren't trying to debug your code, you're essentially just looking it over in the editor. Of course, you couldn't catch every problem just by looking for it, there are many tools that can scan over code and point out potential errors by tracing back variables for user input, check for infinite loops, or even just find semantic problems. Of course, no program is perfect, so Static Code Analysis is generally done with an actual analyst using these tools in tandem with his own eyes.

Just running and debugging code isn't always enough to work out all the bugs. Often, you'll have bugs that won't appear unless specific conditions go down during run time. Static Code Analysis helps you scout out the harder to find bugs hidden in the code while also giving you a chance to refine the code structure so you can make it as efficient as possible.

The good and the bad

There are many ways that tools can help find bugs in your code:

-Taint Analysis is when the tool traces back variables and looks for human input to predict possible problems with given values. Data Flow Analysis also checks variables but for problems within the code that might not initialize a variable properly or give it a bad value.

-Dead Code Analysis searches for dead-ends in your code or code that can't be reached conventionally during use.

-Lexical Analysis is when code is taken and lines of code are changed into tokens to define what the code does at each of those lines. It makes manipulating the code an easier task.

Static Code Analysis is great for finding hidden bugs. While running these tools you might get false triggers, but if you must comply with a standard or are if you are in a life saving or life critical product area, such as medical devices or even aircraft, its Static Code Analysis is typically a requirement. The question I ask is "will someone die or will you lose a significant amount of money if your code fails or crashes?" If the answer is YES!, you need Static Code Analysis.

Who needs Static Code Analysis?

If you have an embedded or secure product that runs embedded C or C++ code, then you need it to be as functional and secure as it can be. One of the many steps in software development is Static Code Analysis, and it is almost essential in creating a reliable product. That's not to mention the security risks of having poor code, leaving sensitive data extremely vulnerable to anyone with the know how. There are things that debug tools are good at, and then there's Static Code Analysis.

Static Code Analysis is essential in making a functional program. Here is some literature on how various Static Code Analysis technologies compare.