Churn PHP is a tool that helps identify potentially risky or high-maintenance pieces of code in a PHP codebase. It does this by analyzing how often classes or functions are modified (churn rate) and how complex they are (cyclomatic complexity). The main goal is to find parts of the code that change frequently and are difficult to maintain, indicating that they might benefit from refactoring or closer attention.
In essence, Churn PHP helps developers manage technical debt by flagging problematic areas that could potentially cause issues in the future. It integrates well with Git repositories and can be run as part of a CI/CD pipeline.
PHPmetrics is a static analysis tool designed for PHP code, providing insights into the code’s complexity, maintainability, and overall quality. It helps developers by analyzing various aspects of their PHP projects and generating reports that visualize metrics. This is especially useful for evaluating large codebases and identifying technical debt.
It’s commonly integrated into continuous integration workflows to maintain high code quality throughout the development lifecycle.
By using PHPmetrics, teams can better understand and manage their code's long-term maintainability and overall health.
Dephpend is a static analysis tool for PHP that focuses on analyzing and visualizing dependencies within a codebase. It provides insights into the architecture and structure of PHP projects by identifying the relationships between different components, such as classes and namespaces. Dephpend helps developers understand the coupling and dependencies in their code, which is crucial for maintaining a modular and scalable architecture.
This tool is particularly useful in large codebases where maintaining a clear architecture is essential for scaling and reducing technical debt. By visualizing dependencies, developers can refactor code more confidently and ensure that new additions don't introduce unwanted complexity.
PHP Mess Detector (PHPMD) is a static analysis tool for PHP that helps detect potential problems in your code. It identifies a wide range of code issues, including:
PHPMD is configurable, allowing you to define custom rules or use predefined rule sets like "unused code" or "naming conventions." It works similarly to PHP_CodeSniffer, but while CodeSniffer focuses more on style and formatting issues, PHPMD is more focused on the logic and structure of the code.
In summary, PHPMD helps ensure code quality and maintainability by pointing out potential "messes" that might otherwise go unnoticed.
PHP_CodeSniffer, often referred to as "Codesniffer," is a tool used to detect violations of coding standards in PHP code. It ensures that code adheres to specified standards, which improves readability, consistency, and maintainability across projects.
In summary, PHP_CodeSniffer helps improve the overall quality and consistency of PHP projects, making them easier to maintain in the long term.
Deptrac is a static code analysis tool for PHP applications that helps manage and enforce architectural rules in a codebase. It works by analyzing your project’s dependencies and verifying that these dependencies adhere to predefined architectural boundaries. The main goal of Deptrac is to prevent tightly coupled components and ensure a clear, maintainable structure, especially in larger or growing projects.
Deptrac is especially useful in maintaining decoupling and modularity, which is crucial in scaling and refactoring projects. By catching architectural violations early, it helps avoid technical debt accumulation.
Composer Unused is a tool for PHP projects that helps identify unused dependencies in the composer.json
file. It allows developers to clean up their list of dependencies and ensure that no unnecessary libraries are lingering in the project, which could bloat the codebase.
composer.json
.composer.json
but are not used in the project code.composer.json
: The tool helps identify and remove unused dependencies, making the project leaner and more efficient.Composer Unused is typically used in PHP projects to ensure that only the necessary dependencies are included. This can lead to better performance and reduced maintenance effort by eliminating unnecessary libraries.
Composer Require Checker is a tool used to verify the consistency of dependencies in PHP projects, particularly when using the Composer package manager. It ensures that all the PHP classes and functions used in a project are covered by the dependencies specified in the composer.json
file.
composer.json
, the tool will flag them.composer.json
but are not actually used in the code, helping keep the project lean.This tool is particularly useful for developers who want to ensure that their PHP project is clean and efficient, with no unused or missing dependencies.
Phan is a static analysis tool for PHP designed to identify and fix potential issues in code before it is executed. It analyzes PHP code for type errors, logic mistakes, and possible runtime issues. Phan is particularly useful for handling type safety in PHP, especially with the introduction of strict types in newer PHP versions.
Here are some of Phan's main features:
Phan is a lightweight tool that integrates well into development workflows and helps catch common PHP code issues early. It is particularly suited for projects that prioritize type safety and code quality.
Exakat is a static analysis tool for PHP designed to improve code quality and ensure best practices in PHP projects. Like Psalm, it focuses on analyzing PHP code, but it offers unique features and analyses to help developers identify issues and make their applications more efficient and secure.
Here are some of Exakat’s main features:
Exakat can be used as a standalone tool or integrated into a Continuous Integration (CI) pipeline to ensure code is continuously checked for quality and security. It's a versatile tool for PHP developers who want to maintain high standards for their code.