Cppcheck - Misplaced Pages

Static code analysis tool

Cppcheck
Original author(s)	Daniel Marjamäki
Initial release	May 8, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-05-08)

Stable release	2.16.0 / 27 October 2024; 53 days ago (27 October 2024)

Repository	github.com/danmar/cppcheck
Written in	C++
Operating system	Cross-platform
Available in	English, Dutch, Finnish, Swedish, German, Russian, Japanese, Serbian, Spanish, French, Italian, Korean, Chinese
Type	Static code analysis
License	GNU General Public License
Website	cppcheck.sourceforge.io

Cppcheck is a static code analysis tool for the C and C++ programming languages. It is a versatile tool that can check non-standard code. The creator and lead developer is Daniel Marjamäki.

Cppcheck is free software under the GNU General Public License.

Features

Cppcheck supports a wide variety of static checks that may not be covered by the compiler itself. These checks are static analysis checks that can be performed at a source code level. The program is directed towards static analysis checks that are rigorous, rather than heuristic in nature.

Some of the checks that are supported include:

Automatic variable checking
Bounds checking for array overruns
Classes checking (e.g. unused functions, variable initialization and memory duplication)
Usage of deprecated or superseded functions according to Open Group
Exception safety checking, for example usage of memory allocation and destructor checks
Memory leaks, e.g. due to lost scope without deallocation
Resource leaks, e.g. due to forgetting to close a file handle
Invalid usage of Standard Template Library functions and idioms
Dead code elimination using unusedFunction option
Miscellaneous stylistic and performance errors

As with many analysis programs, there are many unusual cases of programming idioms that may be acceptable in particular target cases or outside of the programmer's scope for source code correction. A study conducted in March 2009 identified several areas where false positives were found by Cppcheck, but did not specify the program version examined. Cppcheck has been identified for use in systems such as CERNs 4DSOFT meta analysis package, for code verification in high energy particle detector readout devices, system monitoring software for radio telescopes as well as in error analysis of large projects, such as OpenOffice.org and the Debian archive.

Development

The project is actively under development and is actively maintained in different distributions. It has found valid bugs in a number of popular projects such as the Linux kernel and MPlayer.