What tools exist for comparing C++ code to coding guidelines?

Question

There exist tools for comparing code against a custom specified set of coding guidelines/standards for a variety of languages (rather than pure static analysis for common defects). Examples include FxCop for .Net code and CheckStyle for Java, but I was wondering what examples people know of in the C++ world.

An existing question was asked regarding free tools which provided examples like Vera but I was also wondering about commercial tools that may be available.

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 08 '09 at 23:22

The full list that I managed to generate:

PRQA's QA C++
Parasoft's C++Test
MS Visual Studio Team System seems to have some functionality but it's hard to tell via their website.
GrammaTech CodeSonar
Coverity Extend

The last two provide some functionality but not particularly customisable ones:

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 13 '09 at 06:40

A tool used by us was CodeWizard from Parasoft. But I think the new version is called "Parasoft C++ Test". From the homepage:

Static analysis of code for compliance with user-selected coding standards
Graphical RuleWizard editor for creating custom coding rules
Static code path simulation for identifying potential runtime errors
Automated code review with a graphical interface and progress tracking
Automated generation and execution of unit and component-level tests
Flexible stub framework
Full support for regression testing
Code coverage analysis with code highlighting
Runtime memory error checking during unit test execution
Full team deployment infrastructure for desktop and command line usage

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 13 '09 at 23:03

4

DISCLAIMER: Working on this tool is my day job.

I'm obviously biased, but one of the main features of QA C++ is Coding Standard enforcement. For example we do JSF++ and MISRA C++ enforcement. You can read more about this here.

answered Mar 13 '09 at 23:03

Richard Corden

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This answer is relevant, and I believe plugging your IP is acceptable when this is relevant to the question. See this question http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/741/what-is-the-most-appropriate-way-to-promote-yourself-using-stackoverflow/756#756 some discussion on this point. – ConcernedOfTunbridgeWells Feb 17 '10 at 12:48

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 13 '09 at 00:41

2

astyle is a common Unix tool that reformats source to a specified style. It supports most C-like languages. I know of no similar commercial tools.

answered Mar 13 '09 at 00:41

greyfade

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I think the question is more about idioms and variable names than indentation and newlines. – Ryann Graham Mar 13 '09 at 02:01

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 13 '09 at 06:14

2

I was also wondering about commercial tools that may be available.

Visual Studio Team System Edition 2005/2008 does have some such stuff. They also have a facility to enforce a set of rules on a whole team. Check it out.

answered Mar 13 '09 at 06:14

dirkgently

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 12 '13 at 10:57

I do not know whether you looking for a tool with built-in rules or want to validate against your custom rules. If it is the second, you may find it useful to implement searches for undesirable patterns based on regexp. Depending on your needs, Metrix++ http://metrixplusplus.sourceforge.net/ may offer helpful framework.

What tools exist for comparing C++ code to coding guidelines?

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