Meet Magento UK '22 - The road to more resilience: an introduction to static code analysis

The date: June 21st, the time: 9.00 am, the place: The Mermaid, London
The event? Meet Magento UK 2022!

Hello and welcome back to the second of our weekend double bill. In this blog we'll be looking at the benefits of Static Code Analysis but as always we need to cover some house rules.

Meet Magento UK 2022 is a live, in-person event and though it's great to have them back, as will all events, things are subject to change. At the time of writing this post, all of the information like topic, times and speaker are accurate but we would encourage you to check the official MM22UK website on the day to check the latest info. With that said, let's move on to today's subject matter.

Finding bugs in your codebase is never fun, especially if you missed it and it's now months later and buried under a mountain of work you've done since to advance the project, and that's why you test the code right. But we've all been there, deadlines looming, busy schedules, late nights, tired brains and a ton of messages from the eager client just itching to get the project off the ground which can all lead to mistakes and oversights when manually checking over the code. That's where static code analysis comes in.

Firstly it's good to know that static code analysis, static analysis and sometimes source code analysis are used interchangeably but what is it? It's a method used for investigating or examining the source code for bugs and it's all done before the program is run. It looks for weaknesses in the code that have the potential to become bigger problems later on. Now it is possible for you to do this manually but let's face it if you can automate the process, it's going to make your life a lot easier and better. How? well, I'm glad you asked.

As we've eluded to earlier in the blog, checking code takes time and even if you think you've done a thorough job, the slightest distraction, that sleepless night or that ever-ringing phone could be the thing that causes you to miss something. Automation brings speed to this process, giving you more time to work on other areas of a project, take a walk or whatever it is you use your time for. And we all know that the faster things get done, the happier the client will be.

But it's not just about doing things quickly, just because you can do something fast doesn't mean you should as that can compromise the quality of your code. SCA looks at your code and analysis it against a set/s of coding rules, it then proceeds to look at every line of code through that lens and finds potential problems for you to fix. This will help you to ensure the highest possible quality of code even before you begin to test it.

Now it's great that it can check the source code and help at the beginning of a project, but what about the remainder of it? Can it continue to help safeguard quality and speed during the whole build? The short answer is yes, yes it can. SCA will continue to check the code as you build ensuring that the quality of code remains high and helps work towards an issue-free end.

During this session, Stephan Hochdörfer will outline for you what Static Code Analysis is, how it can help you with modular Magento and introduce you to PHPStan, an SCA tool that comes out-of-the-box with Magento. So, if you are looking to learn more about SCA, how to hone your skills or want to know more about PHPStan then this is the session for you.

 - Head of IT Business Operations at bitExpert AG
 - 1st MMUK appearance
 - 20+ years experience

LinkedIn = linkedin.com/in/stephanhochdoerfer
Twitter = twitter.com/shochdoerfer / @shochdoerfer

It's important to remember that this isn't a set it and forget it method, static code analysis works according to the rules and guidelines that you have set, this is not going to make you a great developer but it will assist you in becoming better and provide somewhat of a safety net for you when developing your code. Join us again tomorrow for another double bill of blogs where we'll be looking at "Building Developer Experience: the Hyvä Toolbox" and "How a new model of hiring resources completely transformed our company i4". Until then, stay safe and have a great day.

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