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Checkstyle VS FindBugs

Compare Checkstyle VS FindBugs and see what are their differences

Checkstyle logo Checkstyle

Checkstyle is a development tool to help programmers write Java code that adheres to a coding...

FindBugs logo FindBugs

Findbugs is a tool that looks for bugs in Java code. Findbugs finds the bugs by analyzing computer software without actually executing programs. Using this software allows for easy debugging and repairing broken script. Read more about FindBugs.
  • Checkstyle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-29
  • FindBugs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-01-11

Checkstyle features and specs

  • Code Consistency
    Checkstyle enforces coding standards and style guidelines, ensuring that the codebase remains consistent across different parts of the project.
  • Customization
    It offers a high level of customization, allowing teams to define their own coding standards and tailor rules to fit their specific needs.
  • Automation
    Checkstyle can be integrated into build and CI/CD tools, automating style checks and making it easy to identify and fix issues early in the development process.
  • Error Detection
    It helps in identifying common Java coding issues and potential bugs, which can lead to more reliable and maintainable code.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, Checkstyle has a supportive community and is free to use, which can be beneficial for budget-constrained projects.

Possible disadvantages of Checkstyle

  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a steep learning curve in configuring and using Checkstyle effectively due to its extensive configuration options.
  • Overhead
    Strict adherence to coding standards may introduce additional overhead in terms of time spent on addressing style issues rather than focusing solely on code logic.
  • False Positives
    It might occasionally report false positives or style violations that developers might consider irrelevant, potentially distracting from more critical issues.
  • Complexity in Rule Definition
    Creating or modifying rules can become complex, especially for teams that require detailed and specific style guide enforcement.
  • Limited Scope
    While great for style checks, Checkstyle doesn't cover all aspects of code quality such as performance, concurrency, or deep functional testing.

FindBugs features and specs

  • Open Source
    FindBugs is an open-source project, making it free to use and allowing developers to contribute to its development and improvement.
  • Static Code Analysis
    FindBugs performs static analysis of Java bytecode to identify potential defects and bugs without needing to execute the code.
  • Integration
    It integrates with popular development environments and build tools like Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, and Ant, which makes it easier to incorporate into existing workflows.
  • Java Specific
    It's specifically designed for Java, meaning it can detect issues unique to the Java programming language that may not be caught by general-purpose tools.
  • Defect Identification
    The tool can identify a wide range of bug patterns, including multithreading issues, performance problems, and bad coding practices.

Possible disadvantages of FindBugs

  • Limited Language Support
    FindBugs is limited to Java, so it does not support other programming languages, which can be a drawback for polyglot environments.
  • Project Activity
    As the project has not been actively maintained for several years, it may lack support for the latest Java features and language updates.
  • False Positives
    Like many static analysis tools, FindBugs can produce false positives, which may lead to unnecessary work to triage these non-issues.
  • Performance
    Analyzing large codebases can be time-consuming and may affect the overall performance during the analysis phase in a CI/CD pipeline.
  • User Interface
    The user interface of FindBugs is considered less modern compared to newer tools, which might lead to a steeper learning curve for new users.

Checkstyle videos

CheckStyle - A development tool for maintaining better Java coding standards for Application

More videos:

  • Review - CheckStyle || Maven || Configuration|| HTML Report - 1
  • Review - Install and Use CheckStyle for Java as an IntelliJ IDEA Plugin 2018

FindBugs videos

Static Code Analysis With FindBugs: Step By Step Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Checkstyle and FindBugs)
Code Coverage
59 59%
41% 41
Code Analysis
58 58%
42% 42
Code Review
61 61%
39% 39
Code Quality
47 47%
53% 53

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Checkstyle and FindBugs

Checkstyle Reviews

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FindBugs Reviews

TOP 40 Static Code Analysis Tools (Best Source Code Analysis Tools)
A tool that helps in analyzing C/C++, Java, C#, RPG and Python codes. Another good thing about this tool is it allows integration with free static checker tools like cppcheck, PMD, FindBugs. Basic Version of this tool is free but it comes with fewer features. Based on the need, you can decide whether the free version satisfies the requirement or not.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Checkstyle should be more popular than FindBugs. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Checkstyle mentions (6)

  • Most Effective Approaches for Debugging Applications
    Static code analysis tools scan code for potential issues before execution, catching bugs like null pointer dereferences or race conditions early. Daniel Vasilevski, Director and Owner of Bright Force Electrical, shares, “Utilizing static code analysis tools gives us a clear look at what’s going wrong before anything ever runs.” During a scheduling system rebuild, SonarQube flagged a concurrency flaw, preventing... - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • Custom Gradle Plugin for Unified Static Code Analysis
    PMD and Checkstyle are static analysis tools that check your code on each project build. Gradle allows to apply them easily. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • java checkstyle in neovim?
    AFAIK, you can't use it with nvim-jdtls, but here you shave a list of checkstyle plugins and there are a Gradle and a Maven one that your could use. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Spring Boot – Black Box Testing
    The generated classes should be put into .gitignore. Otherwise, if you have Checkstyle, PMD, or SonarQube in your project, then generated classes can violate some rules. Besides, if you don't put them into .gitignore, then each pull request might become huge due to the fact that even a slightest fix can lead to lots of changes in the generated classes. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Basics of CI/CD
    Speaking of code style there aren't many differences. You can try Checkstyle plugin. It automatically fails a build that violates any of the stated requirements. For example, the code might have an unused import. Besides you can look at cloud services that run the code analysis and shows the result as a bunch of charts (SonarCloud can also do that). - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
View more

FindBugs mentions (4)

  • Tutorial: Build a Java SDK based on OpenAPI Spec
    FindBugs: Detects potential issues in Java code that could lead to bugs. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Scanning for flaws?
    The tools generally depend on the programming language. You might be looking for something like a "linter" or static analyzer (i.e. FindBugs for Java). Source: over 3 years ago
  • Why we need multiple code analysis tools?
    These tools perform analysis on the application's source code without executing/running the code on a platform. In other words, a bot goes line by line of source code to find any bug defined by preconfigured policies/rules. It could be compared to manual code review, but the review is done by a bot. Mostly, code quality, coding standard aspects are targeted to be scanned. The biggest name in static code analysis... - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Review of Java Static Analysis Tools
    FindBugs looks for bugs in Java Code, and this means over 400 different bugs. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Checkstyle and FindBugs, you can also consider the following products

SonarQube - SonarQube, a core component of the Sonar solution, is an open source, self-managed tool that systematically helps developers and organizations deliver Clean Code.

Codacy - Automatically reviews code style, security, duplication, complexity, and coverage on every change while tracking code quality throughout your sprints.

Checkmarx - The industry’s most comprehensive AppSec platform, Checkmarx One is fast, accurate, and accelerates your business.

Pmd - PMD scans Java source code and looks for potential problems like:

Coverity Scan - Find and fix defects in your Java, C/C++ or C# open source project for free

SolidSDD - Duplicate Code Detector - Bluehost - Top rated web hosting provider - Free 1 click installs For blogs, shopping carts, and more.