PHP_CodeSniffer, PHPMD or PHP Depend

php code-analysis static-analysis
jmans picture jmans · May 15, 2011 · Viewed 10.3k times · Source

I am looking at doing some static code analysis of an exisiting PHP project, and I'm having trouble understanding the distinctions between PHP_CodeSniffer, PHPMD, and PHP Depend. Are these simply alternatives to the same problem, or do they complement each other in some ways? Why might a developer choose one over the other?

Answer

Gordon picture Gordon · May 15, 2011

Shameless copy from http://phpqatools.org

pdepend

pdepend can generate a large set of software metrics from a given code base. These values can be used to measure the quality of a software project and they help to identify the parts of an application where a code refactoring should be applied.

phpmd

phpmd scans PHP source code and looks for potential problems such as possible bugs, dead code, suboptimal code, and overcomplicated expressions.

phpcs

phpcs tokenises PHP, JavaScript and CSS files and detects violations of a defined set of coding standards. It is an essential development tool that ensures your code remains clean and consistent. It can also help prevent some common semantic errors made by developers.

So no, they are not just alternatives. PDepend and PMD focus on on software metrics while PHPCS defines rules based on patterns in the token stream. PDepend doesnt care the slightest about finding Coding Standard violations. You should use all three of them. If possible in your Continuous Integration server, for instance Jenkins.

Related questions

How to perform static code analysis in php?

Is there an static analysis tool for PHP source files? The binary itself can check for syntax errors, but I'm looking for something that does more, like: unused variable assignments arrays that are assigned into without being initialized first and …

Read More
How do I check if a string contains a specific word?

Consider: $a = 'How are you?'; if ($a contains 'are') echo 'true'; Suppose I have the code above, what is the correct way to write the statement if ($a contains 'are')?

Read More
Get the full URL in PHP

I use this code to get the full URL: $actual_link = 'http://'.$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'].$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']; The problem is that I use some masks in my .htaccess, so what we see in the URL is not always …

Read More