Static code analysis

Static code analysis refers to a set of methods for analysing software source code in an effort to gain understanding and to target areas for review and/or rewrite. The number of metrics (measures) that can be applied are numerous. One of the crudest measurments, for example, is the size of code, usually expressed in kLOC's (1000 lines of code). Defining a consistent definition of a Line of Code has long been an item for debate.

One common metric in static analysis is McCabes Cyclomatic Complexity Metric which basically measures the number of choices a function makes. Functions with a high number of conditional statements (if's, while etc.) will have a high complexity. Such functions therefore can be considered more likely to contain bugs and be harder to maintain.

Links

• Page on Software Measurment [1] (http://yunus.hun.edu.tr/~sencer/research)