Code Analysis & Software Governance for QA
Code analysis and software governance are both essential tools that can benefit stakeholders at all levels, both internal and external. Discover how Kiuwan QA & Governance can help security QA teams, engineers, developers, and IT professionals stay on track with projects.
Static vs. Dynamic Code Analysis with Kiuwan QA
What is the difference between static and dynamic code analysis? Both are necessary and should be used in conjunction with one another, but the main differences come down to the environment in which they occur and the types of errors they help developers detect.
Here’s a breakdown of both analysis types in depth.
What Is Static Code Analysis?
Static code analysis is the process of debugging source code without having to execute the program in a live environment. This allows developers to understand the inner workings of their code base and ensure it’s compliant, safe, and secure before being fully deployed.
Some of the reasons why static code analysis is so widely used in software development and testing are that it’s easy to scale, runs on the majority of software, and can be used repeatedly to check for vulnerabilities after source code updates and other changes.
However, one of the drawbacks is that static code analysis comes with a high risk of false positives. Even more, some security vulnerabilities have been difficult to detect with automation in the past. However, it can be used across multiple coding languages and is easy to utilize during nightly builds.
What Is Dynamic Code Analysis?
Dynamic code analysis is the process of testing the code in a live, runtime environment for weaknesses a hacker could potentially exploit. These tests address runtime vulnerabilities that occur due to variations in the usage context.
This process in a live environment is beneficial because it helps identify production incidents quickly and can potentially keep bad code from entering your production environment. However, its detection capabilities are limited to code that is actively running — so if a particular snippet of code doesn’t run during the analysis, it can be missed.
Benefits of Code Analysis (QA) From Kiuwan
Kiuwan’s OWASP-accredited QA tools allow developers to do more with a range of additional software features that enhance the way they develop software. Here are just a few of the benefits:
✓ Reduce technical debt: Kiuwan’s analysis functionality manages the effort that your software needs to correct any flaws in its code.
✓ Integrates easily: Our QA tool easily works in tandem with other analyzer programs to expand your capabilities and process.
✓ Enables visual configuration: Kiuwan creates models to select rules and properties for every type of QA you may need to conduct.
✓ Includes Jenkins analysis: Parse the results file from your arsenal of code analysis tools so you can continuously analyze your work every time you build.
✓ Provides differential reports: With Kiuwan, you can easily find any defects that may have been introduced and resolve them before they become major maintainability, portability, security, efficiency, or reliability issues.
With the Kiuwan Code Analyzer, developers can easily detect violations of the rules and properties they have activated, which generates a defect. The program can mark the precise location inside the file and line of code where the defects occur.
The Code Analyzer also displays distribution graphics and tables, allowing users to view the characteristics of the defect, the language of the defective code, and the priority with which the defects should be addressed. With these features, programmers and developers can more easily prioritize work toward critical issues that impact security, ultimately leading to more secure software with a better user experience.
Develop Action Plans with Kiuwan Code Analysis (QA)
It’s never been easier to detect and fix defects. Kiuwan Code analysis automatically creates an action plan for addressing defects. Your team can prioritize remediation measures based on multiple factors, including:
✓ Technical resources
✓ Time
✓ Cost factors
View all of our documentation on Kiuwan QA’s defects reporting tools.
What Does Kiuwan Governance Do for Software Security?
Software governance is a framework for managing the development process that is aimed at improving the efficacy and efficiency of using programmers’ skills and time. While this is often thought of as the arena of management, governance within development teams can be just as or more effective than direction from external departments.
Kiuwan Governance was designed with security/QA engineers and IT managers in mind. It allows development and programming teams to group the results of QA analyses — essential information for managing applications at the executive level.
With these features, IT managers will have:
- Complete visibility into their entire application portfolio
- Objective information to negotiate SLAs
- The ability to measure external providers’ contributions and understand their path from a high-level vantage point.
In turn, this allows development teams to more easily manage their time and resources. Even more, it also allows them and stakeholders to compare new progress against the baseline version of the software.
Group by Portfolios with Kiuwan Governance
Kiuwan Governance allows teams to group the results of code analyses into separate portfolios, making management easier at the executive level. The four default portfolios within the program include:
✓ Business value
✓ Provider
✓ Technology
✓ Quality model
Start Streamlining Your QA Process with Kiuwan
Ready to make your team more agile and streamlined than ever before? Request a 14-day trial of Kiuwan Application Security and see how we can help your team work smarter and make better products than ever before.