Cloud-based service expedites defect detection in Java code

Coverity Inc., a Synopsys company, has unveiled a cloud-based service that allows developers to find hard-to-detect defects in Java code. The Code Spotter, built on Coverity's static code analysis technology, is available for free to the software development community during the beta period.

Developers, through the use of the cloud service, can upload as much Java source code as they would like to the service. The Code Spotter is designed to find the most common and critical issues in Java code bases including resource leaks, race conditions, concurrency issues, control flow issues, null pointer dereferences, issues detected by the open source FindBugs tool, copy and paste errors, and many other software defects resulting in incorrect or unpredictable program behaviour, stated the company.

Code Spotter works by integrating with developers' build systems. It intercepts and compiles the source code files that are part of a project, and then uploads them to the Code Spotter servers for analysis. Once the analysis job is complete, developers can examine the results on the Code Spotter website or download the results for review locally.

Additional highlights and features within Code Spotter include: the Eclipse plugin that provides intuitive access and usage within the integrated developer environments, the Maven plugin that enables simple job submissions, and the GitHub integration that allows the user to sign up for and access Code Spotter with existing GitHub accounts.

Code Spotter in beta is available for Java projects. Coverity plans to support other languages in the future as it further expands its presence in the cloud.