Checkstyle vs. PMD

Question

We are introducing static analysis tools into the build system for our Java product. We are using Maven2 so Checkstyle and PMD integration come for free. However it looks li

Answer 1

If we choose one, which one should we use and why?

These tools are not competing but are complementary and should be used simultaneously.

The convention type (Checkstyle) is the glue that enables people to work together and to free up their creativity instead of spending time and energy at understanding inconsistent code.

Checkstyle examples:

• Is there javadoc on public methods ?
• Is the project following Sun naming conventions ?
• Is the code written with a consistent format ?

while PMD reminds you bad practices:

• Catching an exception without doing anything
• Having dead code
• Too many complex methods
• Direct use of implementations instead of interfaces
• Implementing the hashcode() method without the not equals(Object object) method

source: http://www.sonarsource.org/what-makes-checkstyle-pmd-findbugs-and-macker-complementary/