HERSHAM, UK ― March 3, 2009 ― Following an extensive early adopter program, PRQA | Programming Research is pleased to announce the general release of QA·C/QA·C++ Legacy Mode; an important addition to the industry arsenal of tools and technologies for the advancement of software quality.

Based on the industry-leading analysis products for the C and C++ languages, QA·C/QA·C++ Legacy Mode offers a solution for managing the quality of legacy code. In targeting the maintenance of legacy code it provides developers with the tools they need to re-use valuable legacy software with confidence.

Legacy code is a term referring to modules of older code which is difficult to maintain and usually critical to the application. It presents problems for developers, because although it’s proven to serve its original purpose, it may have brittle implementation. The challenge for developers arises when trying to re-use such modules, often in a new and expanded context.

Legacy software represents a significant investment and valuable intellectual property for companies, but when subjected to comprehensive and sophisticated code analysis, its true legacy-code susceptibilities are revealed. A few examples of the extensive range of issues exposed from the re-use of legacy code include: conversions that work, but only when the data values remain in a safe range; logical tests that always give a true answer, implying code that is not exercised; and the various problems associated with the use of pointers or array bounds.

The PRQA QA·C/QA·C++ Legacy Mode solution incorporates several facets, allowing developers to focus on and quickly resolve the quality and bug issues in new code, while gaining access to legacy software. Precise diagnostic messaging is applied to source and common header files, allowing the accurate detection of source file differences between legacy and current versions. Sophisticated de-duplication and matching of these diagnostics then presents only relevant warnings.

In addition to the precise matching of diagnostic output between “before” and “after” code versions, the QA·C/QA·C++ Legacy Mode solution includes powerful presentation of diagnostics in the PRQA Message Browser, the ability to interactively apply further diagnostic suppression, and the ability to preserve visibility of “hot-spot” diagnostics that should always be fixed. Through QA·C/QA·C++ Legacy Mode, software professionals are now offered a comprehensive solution for the careful resolution of legacy bugs.

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About PRQA | THE PROGRAMMING RESEARCH GROUP

PRQA | THE PROGRAMMING RESEARCH GROUP pioneered the application of language-based analysis technology to automatically enforce coding standards—so you can build better software. Established in 1986, the company is recognized as "the coding standard expert" by leading software developers, industry experts, and standards organizations worldwide. PRQA is known as the thought leader for developing and implementing best practices in today's demanding software development environment—its proven expertise in coding standard development, automated coding standard enforcement, automated code review & software inspection, and source code analysis is simply unmatched. PRQA products include QA·C™, QA·C++™, QA·J™, QA·MISRA™, QA·JSF++™, and QA·HICPP™ (HIGH·INTEGRITY C++™) which can be found wherever software quality is paramount, coding standard compliance is mandated, high-integrity code is essential, developer productivity is key, and project success rates are critical. PRQA has corporate offices in the UK, USA, India, Ireland, and The Netherlands, complemented by a worldwide distribution network. Find out more at www.programmingresearch.com.