One part of Sonar is a Web front-end for the metrics database, and the other part is a Maven plugin that runs all code analyzers and pumps the collected data into that database. (As an aside: imagine how much harder it would be to develop a tool like this if there wasn't a dominant build solution in the Java space like Maven.)
As a package Sonar just ticks all the right boxes. It's really easy to get up and running (starting its DB/Web server and running mvn clean install sonar:sonar in your Maven project is all there is to it), feels absolutely solid, has a friendly UI and looks very polished overall.
Warmly recommended!
I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteSometimes it would be a pain in the *ss to setup a Hudson machine and get all the plugins like PMD, Cobertura, etc.. to work correctly and show the correct results. Now it's just a matter of adding the sonar dependency to your Maven project and simply adding it in the Hudson configuration. The result: a very polished and user-friendly web page including all the results you would ever require for reporting. It could easily be used by Project managers to monitor progress or to include in weekly/monthly progress reports, especially the motion chart! :-)
Is there a reason why one should perform clean install before running the sonar plugin, should 'mvn sonar:sonar' not be enough?
ReplyDeleteGood point.
ReplyDeleteI guess that indeed 'mvn sonar:sonar' should suffice. However, the sonar 2 minutes tutorial also instructs you to do a clean install first: http://docs.codehaus.org/display/SONAR/Install+Sonar#InstallSonar-The2minutestutorial