Top FxCop Alternatives

Ensuring that an application is absolutely ready for the release can be a challenge, especially for smaller teams. While a closely-knit DevOps team can handle the job, having a few tools at their disposal makes the job even faster and more comprehensive. Microsoft’s FxCop is a wonderful open-source tool that allows developers to achieve maximum code optimization through thorough analysis.

A boon for .NET developers

FxCop is an excellent tool that either works standalone or as an installable NuGet package. These builds are called Legacy and Analyzer, respectively. The tool itself is based on the .NET architecture and is designed for .NET managed assemblies of code.  Legacy FxCop basically works by analyzing each line of the code after execution to find out how well it conforms to the pre-made design guidelines set by Microsoft for its .NET platform. This means that the object code created after execution is checked. The Analyzer builds of FxCop, however, checks the source code when the program is being executed.

What can FxCop do?

FxCop is jampacked with detection systems that ensure that the code always complies with .NET Framework Design Guidelines. The technology used is Common Intermediate Language parsing, which works wonders with .NET, another Microsoft technology. It focuses on compatibility issues that may arise due to platform-specific libraries, localization and translation issues involving invalid characters and language clashed, basic design issues that can hamper UX, and small code issues that can hamper performance through incorrect resource allocation. The detection system is based on callgraph analysis techniques, which allows the detection of more than 200 conformation and rules.

A simple tool that eliminates complexities

FxCop is very easy to use, as it is entirely automatic and passively checks the code on, during, or after its execution depending upon the version of the tool used. The Analyzer version can even integrate with Visual Studio in the form of a plugin, providing real-time information about the code directly to the developer writing the code. Using the code is often as simple as running the executable file or activating the plugin, and the developer can simply change the code and run it again to refresh recommendations.