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Cppcheck VS SonarSource

Compare Cppcheck VS SonarSource and see what are their differences

Cppcheck logo Cppcheck

Cppcheck is an analysis tool for C/C++ code. It detects the types of bugs that the compilers normally fail to detect. The goal is no false positives. CppCheckDownload cppcheck for free.

SonarSource logo SonarSource

Sonar empowers developers and organizations to achieve Clean Code, systematically and predictably.
  • Cppcheck Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-13
  • SonarSource Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-11

Sonar solves the trillion-dollar challenge of bad code. Sonar equips developers and organizations to systematically achieve a state of Clean Code so that all code is fit for development and production. By applying the Sonar Clean as You Code methodology, organizations minimize risk, reduce technical debt, and derive more value from their software in a predictable and sustainable way.

The open source and commercial Sonar solution – SonarLint, SonarCloud, and SonarQube – supports over 30 programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure technologies. Trusted by 7 million developers and 400,000 organizations globally to clean more than half a trillion lines of code, Sonar has become integral to delivering better software.

Sonar is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland with additional offices in Austin, Texas; Annecy, France; Bochum, Germany, and Singapore. The company is rapidly growing with over 450 employees and more than 21,000 customers deploying Sonar products worldwide.

Cppcheck features and specs

  • Open Source
    Cppcheck is open-source software, which means it is free to use and its source code is available for modification and distribution under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
  • Static Analysis
    Cppcheck excels at performing static code analysis, detecting bugs, memory leaks, and potential issues in C and C++ code without executing the program.
  • Wide Platform Support
    Cppcheck supports a wide range of platforms, including Windows, Linux, and macOS, making it versatile and accessible to developers on different operating systems.
  • Integrated with IDEs
    Cppcheck can be integrated with popular Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) like Visual Studio, Eclipse, and Code::Blocks, providing seamless code analysis during development.
  • Customizable
    Cppcheck allows customization of its analysis through command-line options and configurations, enabling users to tailor the tool to their specific needs and project requirements.
  • Extensive Reporting
    Cppcheck provides detailed reports that highlight various types of issues, making it easier for developers to identify and resolve problems efficiently.
  • Regular Updates
    Cppcheck is actively maintained, with regular updates and improvements that enhance its capabilities and address any newly discovered issues.

Possible disadvantages of Cppcheck

  • False Positives
    Cppcheck may sometimes produce false positives, flagging issues that are not actually problematic, which can lead to unnecessary debugging efforts.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may encounter a learning curve when first using Cppcheck, as they need to understand its configuration options and how to interpret its output effectively.
  • Limited Dynamic Analysis
    Cppcheck focuses on static analysis and does not provide dynamic analysis capabilities, which means it cannot detect issues that only occur at runtime.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running Cppcheck on large codebases can introduce performance overhead, potentially slowing down the development process if not managed properly.
  • Complex Configuration
    For complex projects, configuring Cppcheck to ignore certain false positives or to focus on specific types of issues can be challenging and time-consuming.

SonarSource features and specs

  • Comprehensive Code Analysis
    SonarSource offers a wide range of code analysis tools that support multiple programming languages. It helps in identifying bugs, vulnerabilities, and code smells, leading to better code quality and maintainability.
  • Continuous Integration Support
    SonarSource integrates well with popular CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitLab, and GitHub Actions, allowing for automated code quality checks as part of the development workflow.
  • Customizable Rules
    Users can customize the rules and quality profiles according to project requirements, making it flexible and adaptable for different development environments.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform offers a clean and intuitive user interface that helps developers easily navigate through issues and improve their code effectively.
  • Active Community and Support
    SonarSource has an active user community and provides good support, including comprehensive documentation and forums, which facilitate problem-solving and knowledge sharing.

Possible disadvantages of SonarSource

  • Resource Consumption
    The platform can be resource-intensive, requiring significant computational power and memory, especially for large codebases.
  • Complex Setup for Custom Integrations
    While it provides strong integration capabilities, setting up custom integrations or configuring advanced features might require a steep learning curve for some users.
  • Licensing Costs
    For enterprise use, SonarSource's licensing fees can be quite high, potentially impacting small to medium-sized businesses' budgets.
  • Limited Out-of-the-Box Functionality for Some Languages
    Although it supports multiple languages, out-of-the-box functionality can be limited for less common languages, necessitating additional configuration or plugin development.
  • Potential Overhead in Development Time
    Integrating thorough code reviews and fixes based on SonarSource's analysis can initially increase development time, which might be a challenge for teams with tight deadlines.

Cppcheck videos

Cppcheck

More videos:

  • Review - Daniel Marjamäki: Cppcheck, static code analysis

SonarSource videos

Web Security 0x19 | Source-Code Review SonarSource #CodeChallenge !

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cppcheck and SonarSource)
Code Analysis
84 84%
16% 16
Code Coverage
90 90%
10% 10
Development
75 75%
25% 25
Code Review
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

Cppcheck Reviews

Top 9 C++ Static Code Analysis Tools
Cppcheck is a popular, open-source, free, cross-platform static code analysis tool dedicated to C and C++. It is known for being easy to use and its simplicity is one of its pros. To get started with it you don’t have to do any adjustments or modifications, which is why it’s often recommended for beginners. It also has a reputation of reporting a relatively small number of...

SonarSource Reviews

We have no reviews of SonarSource yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Cppcheck should be more popular than SonarSource. It has been mentiond 10 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.

Cppcheck mentions (10)

  • Configuring Cppcheck, Cpplint, and JSON Lint
    I dedicated Sunday morning to going over the documentation of the linters we use in the project. The goal was to understand all options and use them in the best way for our project. Seeing their manuals side by side was nice because even very similar things are solved differently. Cppcheck is the most configurable and best documented; JSON Lint lies at the other end. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Enforcing Memory Safety?
    Using infer, someone else exploited null-dereference checks to introduce simple affine types in C++. Cppcheck also checks for null-dereferences. Unfortunately, that approach means that borrow-counting references have a larger sizeof than non-borrow counting references, so optimizing the count away potentially changes the semantics of a program which introduces a whole new way of writing subtly wrong code. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Static Code analysis
    For my own projects, I used cppcheck. You can check out that tool to get a feel. Depending on what industry your in, you might need to follow a standard like Misra. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How do you not shoot yourself in the foot ?
    Https://cppcheck.sourceforge.io/ (there are many other static analysis tools, I just haven't used them or didn't care for them). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Linting tool for prohibiting the use of specific std types
    Sounds like something that could simply be communicated with the team that writes the tests. Unless you have dozens of such classes. In that case, you could just use e.g. Cppcheck and add a rule (regular expression) that searches for usages of the forbidden classes. Source: over 2 years ago
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SonarSource mentions (1)

  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2022)
    Vulnerability Researcher³ SonarSource builds world-class products (SonarQube, SonarCloud, SonarLint) for Code Security and Code Quality, with over 15k customers and 300k instances of our Community Edition. Our Security Research & Development team drives the innovation and promotion of our security analysis engines used by millions of developers around the globe to find vulnerabilities. We are looking for Security... - Source: Hacker News / over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cppcheck and SonarSource, 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.

LDRA Testbed - Liverpool Data Research Associates (LDRA) is a provider of software analysis, test and requirements...

Clang Static Analyzer - The Clang Static Analyzer is a source code analysis tool that finds bugs in C, C++, and Objective-C...

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

lgtm.com - lgtm.com is a platform for code analytics.

Parasoft C/C++test - Ensure compliance with a variety of functional safety, security, and coding standards in embedded C/C++ software.