JumpStart DevPartner Studio Pro [2]

In one of my previous posts I've talked already about Performance Analysis. Let's focus now on Code Analysis/Review for this post ...

DevPartner Code Review

DevPartner identifies .NET programming [VB.NET and C#] and naming violations, analyzes method call structures and tracks overall code complexity. Before starting with a static code review, you should have defined the rule set for your solution. DevPartner contains an extensible rules database (600+) that is based on the Microsoft Visual Studio programming standards. The rules database is maintained and stored in the Rule Manager [standalone application].



Recommandations for your code-review :

• Code review as from the start
  Try to make use of code review (especially naming conventions) when you start your project. As every good developer knows or should know : delaying/postponing the application of good practices is NOT the way to go because at a certain point in the development phase you will be trapped and you will be kicking yourself that you didn't do it from the beginning. Afterwards, the job becomes very time-consuming and it's not the most attractive thing to do.



• Involve each developer
  Reviewing code of your team-members and vice versa is more productive than reviewing your own code. Each developer can be made responsible for a certain project in your solution. DevPartner lets you select the separate projects you want to include for your code review. Uncheck the redundant projects because a code review of a large solution with many projects can take some time!





• Suppress rules only when needed
  Do not suppress rules to click your problems away. Think about the usefulness of the rule for your project before you decide to suppress it. Some rules can have no importance at the start, but can become more important (for performance reasons for example) as the project grows.

DevPartner lets you also execute a command line batch review of your solution in conjunction with a nightly build or as an alternative to reviewing large applications. Customizing rules in DevPartner is possible with good knowledge of regular expressions.

Do not underestimate the power of good coding practices if you are seeking for quality software! To be effective, each developer must stick to the same coding standards and naming guidelines.

Useful Links

• FxCop vs DevPartner [David Boschmans]
• Try DevPartner