SonarQube — Software Quality Assurance

by Sonar Source

DISCLAIMER:

Just a heads-up that this article reflects my personal opinions and experiences. Here I just tried to express a short general overview of the tool and get you a little bit familiar with basic points. So, dive in, enjoy the read, and feel free to share your thoughts there in the comments below! :)

What is Software Quality Assurance (SQA)?

It is the ongoing process that ensures the software product meets and complies with the organization’s established and standardized quality specifications.

SQA ensures adherence to quality standards, involving aspects like requirements definition, software design, coding, source code control, code reviews, software configuration management, testing, release management, and product integration.

Criteria to estimate code quality?

Questions you probably should ask before committing:

1. Is it bug-free?
2. Is it secure?
3. Duplication avoided?
4. Tested properly?
5. Is it Complex Code?
6. Easy to integrate with other code?

Different types of code analysis:

1. Dynamic code analysis — analyzing code behaviour during execution (*we are not going to cover it in this article).
2. Static code analysis — examining code without executing it, using specialized tools to identify issues like syntax errors, coding style violations, and security vulnerabilities (our candidate:).

Flow:

Reasons to use Static Code Analysis:

1. Finds errors earlier in development — it helps find errors way earlier in development before it go into production, moreover, in this step, they are cheap and easy to fix.
2. Detect “Code Smells” — characteristics of a code that indicates that there might be a problem caused by the code in the future.
3. Detect overcomplexity in code — it helps detect if code is written in a very complicated matter even though it can be written very easily.
4. Finds Security Errors — It helps pick up security errors, which basically means it helps to source code be more secure when it is deployed.
5. Enforces Best Coding Practices — devs may forget to follow best practices specific to a coding language that can help in solving that issue.
6. Integration with CI/CD — it can be a waste of time to regularly ask the testing software to test the code. Therefore to solve such a problem we integrate the static testing tool with the Continuous Integration Tool (eg: Jenkins).

*Taking everything into account let’s consider one of the candidates — SonarQube

What is SonarQube?

It is one of the leading static code analysis tools available, developed by SonarSource, moreover, it is an open-source platform, which is equipped with the latest tech for continuous code quality inspection and a user-friendly interface. It performs automatic reviews with static code analysis to detect bugs, code smells, and security vulnerabilities.

Dashboard:

Here I am going to show the main UI representation, just so you could get a general idea about the interface and power of the tool.

1. Main screen: here a user can see report information with total statistics.

2. Bug tab: here a user can check the total number of bugs and suggestions about how to fix them.

3. Where is the issue tab: here a user can see the exact place in the code where a bug has been found and a suggestion about how to fix it.

4. Why is this an issue tab: here a user can see why this or that issue is considered as a problem.

5. Debt tab: here a user can see the eproximate time required to fix or refactor this or that technical debt, so it is easier to estimate.

Conclusion:

In today’s software landscape, maintaining high-quality code is paramount. Quality gates serve as vital checkpoints to ensure software excellence. While startups often prioritize speed over quality, growing enterprises seek stability.

Incorporating SonarQube into your development workflow is more than just an enhancement — it’s a transformation. By elevating the code review process, SonarQube not only ensures the production of high-quality code but also fosters a culture of continuous learning and improvement among developers.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my article. If you enjoyed this article, please click on the clap icon a few times or share it on social media (or both). If you found something to be not quite right or have other information to add please reach out in the comments section below.