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How does this compare to other static code analyzers like spotbugs for Java and Kotlin? Does it have some unique capabilities?

hmottestad 5y ago
It's developed by Facebook/Meta. I would hope that means it has been found to be useful internally, otherwise it would probably not still be under development.
- hmottestad 5y ago
  Alas it does not install on my mac (M1). Their getting started guide says to use homebrew to install Infer. Homebrew says that Infer has been deprecated because it does not build and that there are no bottles available (homebrew lingo for package). Installing (building) from source doesn't work either :(
  - pabs3 5y ago
    What build error do you get? Maybe post an issue on their GitHub?
    - hmottestad 5y ago
      https://github.com/facebook/infer/issues/1607 https://github.com/facebook/infer/issues/1607
      - pabs3 5y ago
        That would be the homebrew error, what about the source build error?
  - rwmj 5y ago
    It's apparently quite tricky to build because it requires a patched clang. Someone I know is trying to build it for Fedora: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fedoraproject.org/thread/XIPQOQQBST6HORQ3JUZ3CSWU3BEUTIPI/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fe...
Jaxan 5y ago
It is based on separation logic. And apparently this makes it scale at the size of Facebook. IIRC, the tool runs in every commit. Also, I think each tool finds different bugs, they have a different set of false positives/negatives. So it’s good to be familiar with multiple tools.
adamretter 5y ago
I would also like to see some more concrete information about how it compares to older established tools like FindBugs and PMD. I took a look at their Documentation but there is no mention of other such tools.
belter 5y ago
From the Docs: Overview of the issue types currently reported by Infer https://fbinfer.com/docs/all-issue-types https://fbinfer.com/docs/all-issue-types

hmottestad 5y ago

It's developed by Facebook/Meta. I would hope that means it has been found to be useful internally, otherwise it would probably not still be under development.

hmottestad 5y ago
Alas it does not install on my mac (M1). Their getting started guide says to use homebrew to install Infer. Homebrew says that Infer has been deprecated because it does not build and that there are no bottles available (homebrew lingo for package). Installing (building) from source doesn't work either :(
- pabs3 5y ago
  What build error do you get? Maybe post an issue on their GitHub?
  - hmottestad 5y ago
    https://github.com/facebook/infer/issues/1607 https://github.com/facebook/infer/issues/1607
    - pabs3 5y ago
      That would be the homebrew error, what about the source build error?
- rwmj 5y ago
  It's apparently quite tricky to build because it requires a patched clang. Someone I know is trying to build it for Fedora: https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fedoraproject.org/thread/XIPQOQQBST6HORQ3JUZ3CSWU3BEUTIPI/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel@lists.fe...

Jaxan 5y ago

It is based on separation logic. And apparently this makes it scale at the size of Facebook. IIRC, the tool runs in every commit. Also, I think each tool finds different bugs, they have a different set of false positives/negatives. So it’s good to be familiar with multiple tools.

adamretter 5y ago

I would also like to see some more concrete information about how it compares to older established tools like FindBugs and PMD. I took a look at their Documentation but there is no mention of other such tools.

belter 5y ago

From the Docs: Overview of the issue types currently reported by Infer https://fbinfer.com/docs/all-issue-types https://fbinfer.com/docs/all-issue-types