How to Start Using NDepend: A Beginner’s Guide

Starting with new software tools can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially when it comes to static code analysis tools like NDepend. If you’re like many developers, you might find yourself staring at a plethora of charts and metrics without a clear direction on what to do next. This blog post aims to guide you through the initial steps of using NDepend, helping you sift through the visual data and highlight areas that warrant your attention.

Understanding Your Initial Impressions

After downloading NDepend and running your first analysis, it’s common to feel a bit lost. Here are some common feelings you might experience:

• Overload of visual information
• Uncertainty about where to focus your efforts
• Confusion around interpreting various metrics

Key Starting Points for Your Analysis

When you first launch NDepend, it’s vital to understand what you should look for to derive meaningful insights about your codebase. Here are some helpful starting points:

1. Focus on Essential Metrics

One approach you can take is to limit your attention to a few key metrics at the outset. This will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed:

• Zone of Pain / Zone of Uselessness: This concept helps identify problematic areas in your code—i.e., where complexity is high, but value is low.
• Cyclomatic Complexity: This metric measures the number of linearly independent paths through a program’s source code, helping identify complex or error-prone sections.

2. Use Supporting Resources

Make use of the wealth of educational resources available:

• NDepend Poster: Scott Hanselman, along with colleagues, created a poster that outlines insightful metrics in NDepend. It’s a great visual reference to help you identify key areas of concern.
• Podcast: Listen to Scott Hanselman’s podcast episode on static code analysis. It covers fundamental concepts that will give you a clearer understanding of the tool’s capabilities.

Finding Problems in Your Code

Once you’re familiar with the initial metrics, you can effectively identify significant issues in your code:

• Identify Critical Metrics First: Look for high cyclomatic complexity or areas flagged in the Zone of Pain.
• Run Multiple Analyses: Running NDepend on different projects can generate variance in results, providing richer context for your findings.

Scouting for Low-Hanging Fruit

As you analyze your project, you’ll want to identify easy wins that can significantly improve code quality:

• Look for Duplicate Code: This can often be found with relative ease and can lead to a more maintainable codebase.
• Reduce Complexity: Simplifying functions or classes flagged for high cyclomatic complexity can lead to immediate improvements.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can start making sense of NDepend and utilizing its features to enhance your code quality. Remember to focus on a few key areas, use available resources, and continuously practice to become more familiar with the tool.

Starting with NDepend might feel like an arduous journey at first, but with these strategies, you’ll be well on your way to mastering static code analysis and reaping its benefits.