How Static Code Analysis can change your life

(for the better)

Technical overview

May 2008

Why Static Code Analysis is good

Code Review is necessary and good!

Static Code Analysis is a fancy name for automated Code Review

Static Code Analysis is necessary and good!

What are major goals of code review?

Possible goals

• Code compliance to company wide standard

• Identify (potential) bugs in code

• Identify design and implementation problems

• Peer education

Static Code Analysis is code review tool!

Usually performed after the coding finished (after compilation, after integration build)

Serves same goals as code review

• Excellent for enforcing compliance to standards

• Helps to eliminate certain bugs

• Helps to identify certain design/implementation flaws

• Provides certain educational value

SCA vs. peer code review

SCA to the rescue!

SCA – how it is done?

For unmanaged code – source code is examined

For managed code – MSIL is examined

Different tools – different approaches• On compiled code after assembly is built

• On compiled code during development

• Traditional - on raw code (text)

SCA with Microsoft tools

• FxCop (free)

• Visual Studio Team System 2005

• Visual Studio Team System 2008

• VSTS with Team Foundation Server

Demo

• FxCop 1.36

• VSTS 2008 code analysis

• VSTS 2008 code metrics

• VSTS 2008 w/TFS: check-in policy

• VSTS 2008 w/TFS: Team Build

Custom SCA rules

• Not officially supported

• Complicated

Yet

• Possible

Visual Studio 10 (Rosario)

• Based on Phoenix project

• Supported extensibility

• Similar framework for unmanaged/managed

analysis

• Rulesets support (better management story)

• Data flow analysis

Static code analysis – why not?

We already do code reviews

Way too many rules

Not clear what rules to use

We must have different rules

Too many violations to fix

Who’s going to fix the violations?

Hindrance to creativity

Yet another bureaucratic invention

Implementing static code analysis

• Identifying appropriate rules

• Handling backlog

• Setting up the process

• Educating the team

• Staying agile!

Other tools of interest in SCA space

SCA tools

• NDepend (www.ndepend.com)

• ReSharper (www.jetbrains.com)

• CodeIt.Right (www.submain.com)

• Code Auditor (www.ssw.com.au)

Misc

• Simian (www.redhillconsulting.com.au)

• Microsoft Line Of Code Counter

• Microsoft Framework Design Studio

Read of interest

• FxCop blog (blogs.msdn.com/fxcop)

• Nicole Calinoiu (msmvps.com/blogs/calinoiu)

• Partick Smacchia blog (codebetter.com/blogs/patricksmacchia)

• Krzysztof Cwalina blog (blogs.msdn.com/kcwalina)

• MSDN Magazine: Security code reviewhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163312.aspx

Questions? (if time allows)

• Email (eugenez@attrice.info)

• Blog (teamfoundation.blogspot.com)