Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

JADX VS Scalpel

Compare JADX VS Scalpel and see what are their differences

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JADX logo JADX

JADX is a decompilation tool that can produce Java Source code from Dex and Apk files, being capable of providing human-readable java classes, it reverses AndroidManifest.

Scalpel logo Scalpel

Scalpel-2.0 - Scalpel; File Carving. Configuration files are modified.
  • JADX Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-18
  • Scalpel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21

JADX features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    JADX offers an intuitive and easy-to-navigate graphical user interface, making it accessible for users, even those with limited experience in reverse engineering Android applications.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    The tool is cross-platform, running on Windows, macOS, and Linux, which enhances its accessibility for users operating on different systems.
  • Decompilation Quality
    JADX provides high-quality decompilation from Dex to Java source code, which facilitates understanding and modifications of the code structure.
  • Integration Features
    It integrates well with other tools and plugins, allowing for expanded functionality and making it a versatile tool in a developer’s toolkit.
  • Search and Navigation
    JADX offers advanced search and navigation capabilities, enabling users to quickly locate and analyze specific parts of the codebase.

Possible disadvantages of JADX

  • Limited Obfuscation Handling
    While JADX can handle some obfuscation, highly obfuscated code can still pose challenges, affecting the readability and accuracy of the decompiled source.
  • Resource Intensive
    JADX can be resource-heavy during decompilation, which may lead to performance issues on lower-end machines or when dealing with large APK files.
  • Incomplete Code Conversion
    In certain complex cases, Decompiled Java code might not always compile back perfectly due to incompleteness or inaccuracies in the conversion process.
  • Limited Interactive Debugging
    JADX lacks sophisticated interactive debugging features, which can make it challenging to analyze dynamic behavior or runtime issues.

Scalpel features and specs

  • Open Source
    Scalpel is open-source software, allowing users to modify and improve the code as needed. This fosters community collaboration and continuous improvement.
  • Lightweight
    The program is lightweight, making it efficient not only in terms of resource usage but also in terms of speed, particularly suitable for tasks involving file carving.
  • Cross-Platform
    Scalpel is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Linux and Windows, providing flexibility to users on different platforms.
  • Extensible
    Users can edit the configuration files to add support for additional file types, offering a high degree of customization for forensic analyses.
  • Targeted File Recovery
    Scalpel allows for precise recovery of specific file types by using header and footer records defined in its configuration, enhancing the focus and efficiency of data recovery processes.

Possible disadvantages of Scalpel

  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and customizing Scalpel requires editing configuration files, which can be complex and intimidating for users without technical background or experience in digital forensics.
  • Command-Line Interface
    The tool operates through a command-line interface, which could be less user-friendly for people accustomed to graphical interfaces, potentially steepening the learning curve.
  • Limited Built-in File Type Support
    By default, Scalpel may only support a limited set of file types; users must manually configure new definitions to carve other file types, requiring additional effort and expertise.
  • Lack of Active Development
    Scalpel does not receive frequent updates or active development, which may lead to challenges in dealing with new file systems or specific bugs that arise over time.
  • No Graphical User Interface
    The lack of a graphical user interface (GUI) may hinder ease of use and accessibility for non-technical users or those preferring a more visual interaction with software.

JADX videos

How to decompile an APK or DEX file using jadx in Windows

More videos:

  • Review - 안드로이드 앱 모의해킹 - jadx 디컴파일 도구의 활용법 및 용어 설명
  • Tutorial - 6-How To Installing Jadx on Linux

Scalpel videos

Cannondale Scalpel-Si Team - Long Term Review

More videos:

  • Review - Cannondale Scalpel SI Review – 2017 Bible of Bike Tests
  • Review - CANNONDALE SCALPEL SI REVIEW - ALL RIDE EP58

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to JADX and Scalpel)
Development
100 100%
0% 0
Backup & Restore
0 0%
100% 100
Tool
100 100%
0% 0
Monitoring Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, JADX seems to be a lot more popular than Scalpel. While we know about 29 links to JADX, we've tracked only 1 mention of Scalpel. 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.

JADX mentions (29)

  • Debugging an Undebuggable App
    > I remember something like dex2jar also, which gave you a jar you could use in any java decompiler, like jdgui, procyon etc. https://github.com/skylot/jadx is very handy for that nowadays. It also supports interactive variable/method/class name renaming to make the decomplied code easier to read. The decompiler isn't perfect, but I guess all available Java decompilers... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Hunting the Hacker: A Deep Dive into Courier Fraud
    Suspicious of the request, our colleague forwarded the APK to me, knowing my expertise in software development and cybersecurity. My investigation began by downloading and extracting the contents of the APK. Inside, I found several dex files, which I knew contained the app's compiled source code. Using a tool called jadx, (jadx -d extractedapkfile) I decompiled the APK to inspect its source code. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
  • A popular Bluetooth car battery monitor that siphons up all your location data
    The best way is to just start practicing. I would say pick some simple apps on your (Android) phone and dig straight in. The great thing about Android applications is that often they generally decompile quite nice into human readable Java soo the barrier of entry can be quite low to start reversing. Grab a copy of JADX[1] - it will decompress and decompile the APK files. If you don't have an Android handset, use... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Hardware Question
    This may be overkill but you can use an oscilloscope to manually calculate the baudrate, i.e. Like this. It looks like it could be UART serial data, but this is a good resource to reference. Sometimes http is used as a means for communicating, and not necessarily directly to a browser see here. This is pretty common in embedded applications actually. You can try using dirbuster to see what hidden endpoints there... Source: almost 2 years ago
  • improved nintype
    Jadx - skylot/jadx: Dex to Java decompiler (github.com) - Used for decompiling the apk - make the code readable. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Scalpel mentions (1)

  • does formating your pc erase your Bitcoin wallet?
    Probably more than $100 of work, but if you're really serious https://github.com/sleuthkit/scalpel. Source: over 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing JADX and Scalpel, you can also consider the following products

APK Editor Studio - APK Editor Studio is an open-source Android application editor that allows you to edit APKs with the help of reverse engineering.

TestDisk - TestDisk is a free and open source data recovery software tool designed to recover lost partition and unerase deleted files. DownloadDownload TestDisk & PhotoRec. TestDisk is a free and open .

Apktool - Apktool is an all-in-one tool that can extract all the resources inside an APK.

PhotoRec - Jun 4, 2016 - PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from hard disks, CD-ROMs, and lost pictures (thus the Photo Recovery name) from digital camera memory.

APK Studio - APK Studio is an open-source Integrated Development Environment that allows you to recompile and decompile Android applications with its unified interface.

File Juicer - Extract images from PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel and other files. For Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard