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Shellcheck VS Splint

Compare Shellcheck VS Splint and see what are their differences

Shellcheck logo Shellcheck

ShellCheck finds bugs in your shell scripts

Splint logo Splint

Splint Home Page
  • Shellcheck Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-26
  • Splint Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-01-23

Shellcheck features and specs

  • Static Code Analysis
    ShellCheck provides static analysis for shell scripts, allowing developers to catch errors and potential bugs without executing the script.
  • Comprehensive Error Detection
    It identifies a broad range of issues, including syntax errors, semantic errors, and best practice violations, helping to improve script reliability.
  • Suggestions for Improvements
    ShellCheck offers suggestions and fixes for many issues it detects, assisting developers in adhering to best practices.
  • Wide Compatibility
    ShellCheck supports various shell dialects, including Bash, Dash, and others, making it versatile for different environments.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, ShellCheck is freely available to everyone, with a community that contributes to its improvement and updates.
  • Integration with Editors
    ShellCheck integrates with various text editors and IDEs, enabling seamless error checking within the developer's workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Shellcheck

  • Learning Curve
    Users may need time to learn and understand ShellCheck's feedback, especially if they are not familiar with shell scripting best practices.
  • Potential Overhead
    While it provides valuable insights, using ShellCheck can add an overhead to the development process as scripts need to be checked and errors reviewed.
  • Not a Substitute for Testing
    ShellCheck should not be considered a substitute for thorough testing. Scripts still need to be executed to ensure functional correctness.
  • False Positives
    Like many static analyzers, ShellCheck may generate false positives, which can be misleading and require manual verification by the developer.
  • Resource Intensive for Large Scripts
    Analyzing very large or complex scripts might consume significant resources, potentially slowing down the workflow on older machines.

Splint features and specs

  • Static Analysis
    Splint is designed to perform static analysis of C programs, allowing developers to catch bugs early in the development process without executing the program.
  • Custom Annotations
    It supports custom annotations, enabling developers to specify intended behaviors and constraints, which helps in identifying more domain-specific issues.
  • Free and Open Source
    Splint is free to use and open source, making it accessible for individual developers and smaller teams who may not have the resources for expensive software tools.
  • Wide Adoption in Academia
    The tool is widely used in academic settings as a teaching aid for programming and software engineering courses due to its educational value in illustrating software flaws.

Possible disadvantages of Splint

  • Limited Language Support
    Splint is limited to C programs only, which can be a drawback for teams working with multiple programming languages.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    For developers unfamiliar with static analysis tools or Splint's annotations, there is a learning curve that might slow down initial adoption.
  • Outdated Documentation
    Some users have reported that the documentation is outdated or lacking in certain areas, which can make understanding and using the tool more challenging.
  • Manual Work Required
    To get the most out of Splint, developers may need to manually annotate code, which can be time-consuming and may not fit well into all development workflows.

Shellcheck videos

Linting Your Bash Scripts with Shellcheck

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How To Configure ShellCheck in Jenkins
  • Review - Write Safer Scripts Using Shellcheck

Splint videos

Will a Night Splint Help Your Plantar Fasciitis? We Review 3 Braces.

More videos:

  • Review - Will A Night Splint Help Your Plantar Fasciitis?

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Shellcheck and Splint)
Code Analysis
52 52%
48% 48
Code Coverage
58 58%
42% 42
Code Review
62 62%
38% 38
Code Quality
53 53%
47% 47

User comments

Share your experience with using Shellcheck and Splint. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Shellcheck should be more popular than Splint. It has been mentiond 30 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.

Shellcheck mentions (30)

  • Haskell: A Great Procedural Language
    The other ones most people point to are https://pandoc.org and https://shellcheck.net. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • I reduced the size of my Docker image by 40% โ€“ Dockerizing shell scripts
    > Are "Random shell scripts from the internet" categorically worse than "random docker images from the internet"? > With the shell script, you can literally read it in an ... ... https://shellcheck.net. Can't do that if all of the work is hidden in a Dockerfile's RUN statement. I have my team commit shell scripts in shell script files, and the Dockerfile just runs that shell script. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • TermiC: Terminal C, Interactive C/C++ REPL shell created with BASH
    Nice script. It's... uhhh... Not shellcheck-clean. https://shellcheck.net/. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • ChatGPT is a boon for linux noobs (but use with caution)
    Another fairly valuable resource is https://shellcheck.net which I use a bit more often than ChatGPT if I need help scripting. Source: over 3 years ago
  • I can't run the shell
    Always check your shell scripts at a site like http://shellcheck.net. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Splint mentions (10)

  • Git: Introduce Rust and announce that it will become mandatorty
    > My gut feeling is You're probably right, I was saying it just can be transferred, with a large "just". > the fact that neither GCC nor Clang appear to have discussed reusing concepts from their optimizer passes to recreate the borrow checker or borrow checker-like functionality There is however a commitment from GCC, that every UB the compiler exploits must be reported by -fanalyzer, otherwise it's a compiler... - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • C-rusted: The Advantages of Rust, in C, without the Disadvantages
    Whenever I see people talk about the portability or compatibility advantages of C, I'm reminded of how "even C isn't compatible with C", because you typically aren't talking about up-to-date GCC or LLVM on these niche platforms... you're talking about some weird or archaic vendor-provided compiler... Possibly with syntax extensions that static analyzers like splint will choke on. (Splint can't even understand near... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Announcing Rust 1.67.1
    Huh. I think I actually needed to use the equivalent position for certain splint annotations in my C retro-hobby project. Source: over 3 years ago
  • US NGO Consumer Reports also reporting on C and C++ safety for product development.
    I often like to say that Rust's bindings are a way to trick people into writing the compile-time safety annotations that they didn't want to write for things like splint. (Seriously. Look into how much splint is capable of checking with the correct annotations.). Source: over 3 years ago
  • โ€œRust is safeโ€ is not some kind of absolute guarantee of code safety
    Linters like Splint [0] can do that for C. Iโ€™m not saying that Rustโ€™s built-in approach isnโ€™t better, but please be careful about what exactly you claim. [0] http://splint.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Shellcheck and Splint, you can also consider the following products

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.

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

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.

Checkmarx - The industryโ€™s most comprehensive AppSec platform, Checkmarx One is fast, accurate, and accelerates your business.

Flawfinder - David A. Wheeler's Page for Flawfinder

PVS-Studio - PVS-Studio is a useful piece of software for detecting problems in source code. The software examines program codes written in C, C++, and C# for any problems that might prohibit the code from functioning properly.