A while back, Jeff Atwood posted an article on managed code analysis tools and more recently on the benefits and the dangers of misusing code metrics. Static code analysis can help you to come to terms with an unfamiliar code base. Here are a few free useful tools:
- Reflector (there is a list of add-ins here and Peli’s code metrics add-ins): the essential tool for .NET developers. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that every .Net developer should be familiar with this tool.
- FxCop (1.35): although it requires version 2.0 of the .Net framework, this version will still interrogate .NET 1.1 assemblies. It’s a valuable tool and now integrates directly with VS2005. Make it part of your automated build process.
- NDepend (2.0): analyses .NET assemblies and source code and generates quality metrics reports. There is a quickstart tutorial here.