What is Static Analysis?

Last updated: 2025-04-11

Static analysis is the examination of source code without executing it, using rule-based pattern matching to detect known issues like security vulnerabilities, coding standard violations, and common bug patterns. Tools like SonarQube, Semgrep, and Codacy are static analyzers.

Why does static analysis matter for engineering teams?

Static analysis is fast, deterministic, and excellent at catching known vulnerability patterns (SQL injection, buffer overflows, etc.). It's the first line of defense in CI pipelines. However, it cannot reason about code intent, trace cross-file dependencies, or identify novel risks — it only finds what you've written rules for.

How does Argus handle static analysis?

Argus complements static analysis rather than replacing it. Use Semgrep for rules, SonarQube for SAST, and Argus for reasoning-based review. Argus's multi-pass pipeline includes a security specialist that catches issues static analysis misses — like architectural security regressions, misused abstractions, and context-dependent vulnerabilities.

Static analysis catches 67% of known vulnerability patterns but only 12% of novel architectural risks — OWASP Benchmark Report v1.2, 2024

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