Static code analysis referes to a bunch of methods for analysing software source code in an effort to gain understanding and target areas for review and/or rewrite. The number of metrics (
measures) that can be applied are numerous. One of the crudest measurments for example is the size of code, usually expressed in kLOC's (1000 lines of code). Defining a consistent definition of a Line of Code has long been an item for debate.
One common metric in static analysis is McCabes? Cyclomatic Complexity Metric which basically
measure the number of choices a function makes. Functions with a high number of conditional statements (if's, while etc.) will have a high complexity therfore can be considered more likely to contain bugs and be harder to maintain.
Links
- Page on Software Measurment [1]