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C++ Source Code Analyzer Example

Files:

• xmlpatterns/xquery/globalVariables/globals.cpp
• xmlpatterns/xquery/globalVariables/reportGlobals.xq
• xmlpatterns/xquery/globalVariables/globalVariables.pro

The C++ source code analyzer example shows how to write a real world XQuery query.

Overview

Sometimes it is of use to analyze C++ code, in order to find common mistakes & patterns. For that one can use search & text utilites like grep on UNIX, or try to write ones own C++ parser and subsequently do search there.

But what if there were a simpler but still as correct approach?

g++, the open source C++ compiler, has an extension called GCC-XML that outputs the declarations in a compilation unit(a C++ file) in XML. Since that "C++ to XML" conversion is done with GCC itself, it means the parsing of the C++ code is done with one of the best C++ parsers on this planet.

Once the C++ is in XML, a query can swiftly navigate it to produce a report.

Global variables

Usually one wants to avoid global mutable variables in C++, since they have a state globally and therefore often is a source to bugs, especially related to threading.

For instance, in globals.cpp, the global, mutable integers as well as the global class instances should preferrably be avoided:

 int mutablePrimitive1;
 int mutablePrimitive2;
 const int constPrimitive1 = 4;
 const int constPrimitive2 = 3;

 class ComplexClass
 {
 public:
     ComplexClass();
     ComplexClass(const ComplexClass &);
     ~ComplexClass();
 };

 ComplexClass mutableComplex1;
 ComplexClass mutableComplex2;
 const ComplexClass constComplex1;
 const ComplexClass constComplex2;

 int main()
 {
     int localVariable;
     localVariable = 0;
     return localVariable;
 }