The Hidden Treasure Of Static Analysis: Finding Risks In Forgotten Places

Static analysis tools are often used as an enterprise standard because management wants to track metrics, so the team gets their code in there then forgets about it – out of sight, out of mind. But for someone looking for areas of risk in a codebase, static analysis tools are a treasure trove of information that is usually difficult to track down manually or even with test automation. In this session we’ll use the map provided to us by static analysis to find areas of risk from bugs, duplications, code coverage (or lack thereof), and complexity. We can further analyze these hazards to get a clearer picture of the actual risks, or take immediate action to reduce that risk by killing them off. And if you’re not using static analysis tools just yet, you’ll learn about just how invaluable they are to the entire team, not just management!

 Hilary Weaver-Robb is a Senior Software Engineer in Test near Detroit. She is a mentor to her fellow testers, makes friends with developers, and helps teams level-up their quality processes, tools, and techniques. Hilary loves to help train folks in API testing and automation, using static analysis to inform our testing, and has always been passionate about improving the relationships between developers and testers, and evangelizes software testing as a rewarding, viable career.

She runs the Motor City Software Testers user group, working to build a community of quality advocates. Hilary tweets (a lot) as @g33klady, and you can find her thoughts and experiences in the testing world, at g33klady.com.