You want to make sure that your code is high quality and is designed to work the way you would expect. How do you make sure that you can do exactly that? Well, you’re going to have to run PHP static analysis to make sure that it’s doing exactly what you want when you want. It will help you to manage the code necessary even when you’re working on code that was created by a different programmer, and that’s going to make a huge difference in the end product.

What You’ll Find with PHP Code Analysis

In general, you’re going to find errors and problems that don’t follow the coding standards. So, if you have a programmer who tends to do things their own way and someone else comes in to try and work on the code they might normally be overwhelmed and confused at just what is going on in the code. But you can use a PHP code analysis tool to make sure that all of the code follows the actual standard rather than the whims of anyone programmer.

You’ll also be able to find some of the most common errors that occur when creating code, which is going to make a huge difference when you’re trying to upgrade any content or add something new. After all, even the most experienced of programmers will make mistakes sometimes and you want to make sure that you catch them before you put anything live.

Finally, you’re going to have the opportunity to clean up your code blocks. That means you can fix the things that aren’t going to stop your code from running but will make it a little less than ideal to look at when you next need to make some changes. Cleaning things up is going to help you locate other problems or see where you want to make changes while you’re updating your code as well.

The Top Options

So, if you’re interested in getting started with PHP code analysis what do you need to do? How do you make sure that you are using the right programs and systems to find errors? Well, we’ve located a few of the best choices to help you along.

Code Sniffer

With this system, you’re getting strict style guidance. You won’t have to worry about making mistakes in the formatting of your code with this one because it’s designed to keep everything working exactly right. Not only that but it’s designed to ship with support for the most popular of coding standards so you can pick the one that works best for your system or that you prefer to use. Then, you can even set up your own coding standard if you prefer.

The output that you’ll get will be easy to read and understand and lets you know if you have a warning or an actual error. Not to mention it will let you know exactly where those potential problems are. The idea is to focus on code standards here, with a little less focus on things like semantic errors.

PHPMD

Want to make sure that you see all of the errors that are going on with your code? This one is definitely a system to look at more closely to see what you can find. It will look at the complexity of your code to help you keep things as simple as possible and easy to update as needed. It also looks at design issues, so you can keep the look the way that you want. Not to mention it will help you keep your names at the right lengths and easy to understand.

Add on the fact that it can find unused code that can and should be removed as well as potentially controversial coding decisions and you’re definitely going to have a great option for any of your needs. Not to mention the output is written in a way that you can read and recognize easily.

PHP Coding Standards Fixer

If you want a little more help with the coding you’ll be able to check out this system, which actually allows you to see the problem and see the potential fixes as well. You’ll be able to get the information that you need to make changes and you can update quickly. This is great if you’re not quite sure what changes need to be made in your code (even though you know there’s a problem) or if you’re looking for a quick fix to get you through.

You’ll get output that’s easy to read so you can quickly and accurately implement the changes that it wants you to. Not to mention this system can actually do some updates automatically so you don’t have to do anything at all. That speeds up your fix process even further.

Making Your Choice

When you’re ready to make a choice on the exact PHP analysis tool that you’re going to use, make sure you look at each of these and see just how they can help you. You might actually be surprised with some of the different features and options and you’ll definitely be happy with the end results of your coding because it’s going to look a whole lot better (and be a whole lot more efficient).

Take a little bit of time to review what each of these systems can do and decide which one (or ones) you want to try out for yourself. You’re going to find different benefits and drawbacks of each and you’re definitely going to be happy with the end product when you see how well your code actually performs. All you have to do is plug in the code that you have and take a look.

If you’re not quite sure, you can also take a look at this list of 10 top security scanners that will help you learn more about your vulnerabilities and problems before they become too big of an issue.

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