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Semgrep VS ESLint

Compare Semgrep VS ESLint and see what are their differences

Semgrep logo Semgrep

Semgrep is a fast, open-source, static analysis tool for finding bugs and enforcing code standards at editor, commit, and CI time.

ESLint logo ESLint

The fully pluggable JavaScript code quality tool
  • Semgrep Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-09-14
  • ESLint Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-09-14

Semgrep features and specs

  • Easy to Use
    Semgrep offers a straightforward setup and simple syntax, making it easy for developers to start using it for static code analysis without extensive configuration.
  • Language Support
    It supports a wide range of programming languages, including popular ones like Python, JavaScript, Java, and more, making it versatile for different codebases.
  • Customizable Rules
    Users can create custom rules tailored to their specific codebase needs, allowing for more control and precision over code analysis.
  • Real-time Analysis
    Semgrep can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines, providing real-time feedback on code submissions and helping to catch issues early in the development process.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, it allows for community contributions and transparency, enabling users to understand and trust the tool more deeply.

Possible disadvantages of Semgrep

  • Performance Overhead
    Running extensive checks or using it on a large codebase might introduce a performance overhead, potentially slowing down development and analysis processes.
  • Learning Curve for Custom Rules
    While powerful, creating and fine-tuning custom rules can be challenging and require a good understanding of the tool and the code patterns to be detected.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    Compared to some commercial static analysis tools, Semgrep might lack certain advanced features such as deep data flow analysis or sophisticated vulnerability detection out-of-the-box.
  • False Positives
    Like many static analysis tools, Semgrep can produce false positives, requiring developers to manually review and filter out incorrect findings.
  • Community Support Dependency
    As an open-source platform, the availability of new features, bug fixes, and support heavily relies on the community, which may not always align with enterprise needs.

ESLint features and specs

  • Customization
    ESLint is highly customizable through configuration files, allowing developers to tailor the linting process to fit their specific coding standards and project requirements.
  • Extensibility
    With a wide range of plugins and the ability to write custom rules, ESLint can be extended to accommodate unique project needs or additional languages and frameworks.
  • Community Support
    ESLint has a large and active community, ensuring continuous improvement, frequent updates, and a wealth of shared knowledge and resources.
  • Integrations
    ESLint integrates seamlessly with most development environments, build tools, and version control systems, making it easy to incorporate into existing workflows.
  • Error Prevention
    By statically analyzing code to catch potential errors and bad practices before runtime, ESLint helps improve code quality and reduce bugs.
  • Consistency
    Applying ESLint across a project ensures coding standards are maintained consistently, which is particularly beneficial for teams with multiple developers.

Possible disadvantages of ESLint

  • Initial Setup
    Configuring ESLint for the first time can be daunting, especially for those who are new to the tool or have complex project requirements.
  • Performance
    On large codebases, ESLint can sometimes slow down builds or editor performance due to the extensive analysis it performs.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with understanding and configuring ESLint rules, which can be challenging for beginners.
  • Strictness
    Depending on the configuration, ESLint can be very strict, leading to a large number of warnings or errors that may initially overwhelm developers not accustomed to such rigorous linting.
  • Opinionated Rules
    Some ESLint default rules may not align with every developer's or team's coding style preferences, necessitating further customization and adjustment.
  • Maintenance
    Keeping ESLint configurations and plugins up to date requires ongoing maintenance, especially as projects evolve and dependencies change.

Semgrep videos

Semgrep: a lightweight static analysis tool for security consultant and hackers

More videos:

  • Review - Using Semgrep and Jenkins for Static Code Analysis
  • Review - Workshop: Scaling your AppSec Program with Semgrep

ESLint videos

ESLint Quickstart - find errors automatically

More videos:

  • Review - ESLint + Prettier + VS Code — The Perfect Setup
  • Review - Linting and Formatting JavaScript with ESLint in Visual Studio Code

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Semgrep and ESLint)
Code Analysis
8 8%
92% 92
Code Coverage
4 4%
96% 96
Security
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

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

Semgrep Reviews

We have no reviews of Semgrep yet.
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ESLint Reviews

8 Best Static Code Analysis Tools For 2024
You can use ESLint through a supported IDE such as VS Code, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA or integrate it with your CI pipelines. Moreover, you can install it locally using a package manager like npm, yarn, npx, etc.
Source: www.qodo.ai

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, ESLint seems to be a lot more popular than Semgrep. While we know about 267 links to ESLint, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Semgrep. 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.

Semgrep mentions (8)

  • How to make “Input validation” easy for your devs
    Also, we can use a tool like Semgrep to audit the use of the middleware through all routes using a custom rule, to show a simple example we can use a rule like the below (Note this is just example which covers one way of defining routes in Express, for production the rule needs to be extended to include all other ways of defining routes). - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Tree-Sitter
    > Not sure I understand your point. The problem is using Treesitter (for syntax highlighting and "semantic movements") and an LSP at the same time. So if your language has a LSP, using Treesitter additionally is redundant at best and introduces inconcistency at worst. I'm not talking about using Treesitter as the parser for the LSP. > Most popular languages have language-specific tools I'd say even less popular... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Powerful SAST project for Android Application Security
    This project is a compilation of Semgrep rules derived from the OWASP Mobile Application Security Testing Guide (MASTG) specifically for Android applications. The aim is to enhance and support Mobile Application Penetration Testing (MAPT) activities conducted by the ethical hacker community. The primary objective of these rules is to address the static tests outlined in the OWASP MASTG. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Do you SecDevOps?
    For generally code analysis, I used Semgrep in the past. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Username/password scanner for network share
    You can try with Semgrep. For scanning shared drive you need to have the access though. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

ESLint mentions (267)

  • Never lose valuable error context in JavaScript
    While ESLint is the go-to tool for code quality in JavaScript, it doesn’t provide any built-in rule for this. - Source: dev.to / 9 days ago
  • Shopify: Getting to grips with GraphQL
    This linting is designed to work with eslint, which is very commonly used in the JavaScript world. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • 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 / about 1 month ago
  • Static Code Analysis: Ensuring Code Quality Before Execution
    ESLint – Widely used for JavaScript/TypeScript projects to catch style and logic errors. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • 🚀 Biome Has Entered the Chat: A New Tool to Replace ESLint and Prettier
    If you’ve ever set up a JavaScript or TypeScript project, chances are you've spent way too much time configuring ESLint, Prettier, and their dozens of plugins. We’ve all been there — fiddling with .eslintrc, fighting with formatting conflicts, and installing what feels like half the npm registry just to get decent code quality tooling. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Semgrep and ESLint, 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.

Prettier - An opinionated code formatter

Snyk - Snyk helps you use open source and stay secure. Continuously find and fix vulnerabilities for npm, Maven, NuGet, RubyGems, PyPI and much more.

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.

CodeClimate - Code Climate provides automated code review for your apps, letting you fix quality and security issues before they hit production. We check every commit, branch and pull request for changes in quality and potential vulnerabilities.

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