CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonstatic-analysiscyclomatic-complexity
Jerub
Jerub

Reputation: 42648

How can I analyze Python code to identify problematic areas?

I have a large source repository split across multiple projects. I would like to produce a report about the health of the source code, identifying problem areas that need to be addressed.

Specifically, I'd like to call out routines with a high cyclomatic complexity, identify repetition, and perhaps run some lint-like static analysis to spot suspicious (and thus likely erroneous) constructs.

How might I go about constructing such a report?

Upvotes: 100

Views: 42660

Answers (8)

msemelman
msemelman

Reputation: 2937

Pycana works like charm when you need to understand a new project!

PyCAna (Python Code Analyzer) is a fancy name for a simple code analyzer for python that creates a class diagram after executing your code.

See how it works: http://pycana.sourceforge.net/

output:

alt text

Upvotes: 11

Asclepius
Asclepius

Reputation: 63536

For checking cyclomatic complexity, there is of course the mccabe package.

Installation:

$ pip install --upgrade mccabe

Usage:

$ python -m mccabe --min=6 path/to/myfile.py

Note the threshold of 6 above. Per this answer, scores >5 probably should be simplified.

Sample output with --min=3:

68:1: 'Fetcher.fetch' 3
48:1: 'Fetcher._read_dom_tag' 3
103:1: 'main' 3

It can optionally also be used via pylint-mccabe or pytest-mccabe, etc.

Upvotes: 3

Wes Kendall
Wes Kendall

Reputation: 246

Use flake8, which provides pep8, pyflakes, and cyclomatic complexity analysis in one tool

Upvotes: 6

Dave Halter
Dave Halter

Reputation: 16345

For cyclomatic complexity you can use radon: https://github.com/rubik/radon

(Use pip to install it: pip install radon)

Additionally it also has these features:

  • raw metrics (these include SLOC, comment lines, blank lines, &c.)
  • Halstead metrics (all of them)
  • Maintainability Index (the one used in Visual Studio)

Upvotes: 29

Pierre-Jean Coudert
Pierre-Jean Coudert

Reputation: 9347

Thanks to Pydev, you can integrate pylint in the Eclipse IDE really easily and get a code report each time you save a modified file.

Upvotes: 6

Anonymous
Anonymous

Reputation: 3051

There is a tool called CloneDigger that helps you find similar code snippets.

Upvotes: 4

Mike Griffith
Mike Griffith

Reputation: 1211

For measuring cyclomatic complexity, there's a nice tool available at traceback.org. The page also gives a good overview of how to interpret the results.

+1 for pylint. It is great at verifying adherence to coding standards (be it PEP8 or your own organization's variant), which can in the end help to reduce cyclomatic complexity.

Upvotes: 36

freespace
freespace

Reputation: 16711

For static analysis there is pylint and pychecker. Personally I use pylint as it seems to be more comprehensive than pychecker.

For cyclomatic complexity you can try this perl program, or this article which introduces a python program to do the same

Upvotes: 18

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