Generic code quality tools might save money up front, yet end up costing more in the long run because of missed errors, unreliable reports, and insufficient coverage for Salesforce DevOps.
Why It Matters: Static code analysis, static application security testing (SAST), code quality tools—whatever you choose to call them, these components are critical aspects of maintaining a productive and secure Salesforce DevOps strategy. Generic tools simply don’t offer the coverage needed to adequately address the issues they are meant to resolve.
Coding errors that make it into live environments have the potential to create data security vulnerabilities.
These errors become more expensive to rectify the further down the pipeline they are caught, whereas static code analysis notifies developers immediately so they can fix these issues.
Salesforce is a unique development environment with its own language and rules that must be addressed by a code quality tool; if not, the code is essentially worthless.
Here are 8 things you’ll get by using a generic code quality tool in Salesforce:
- Irrelevant Information that Obscures Findings
- Minimal Salesforce Coverage
- Unhelpful Focus on CVE/CVSS Scores
- Difficult Integrations across Components
- Limited Customizations
- Incompatibility with Surrounding DevOps Toolsets
- Lack of Coverage that Creates Data Security Vulnerabilities
- Requirement for Language Coverage and Salesforce Expertise
1. Irrelevant Information that Obscures Findings
It might seem like generic tools offer a lot of insights once users see their reports start to compile. There are likely to be numerous data sets, findings, and insights. However, many of these insights are just noise. Simply gathering a pile of information isn’t going to help unless the data is actionable and accurate.
Many generic code quality tools are great at pumping out large amounts of results. However, this pool of information is full of false positives.
Large returns of unusable data make it harder to find helpful insights—they get drowned out in the noise. Code quality tools must be accurate in their findings so users can get right to work to rectify any errors found instead of weeding through results to gain useful insights.
2. Minimal Salesforce Coverage
The Salesforce platform is unique in many ways. The architecture of the environment and development frameworks have their own languages, best practices, and tools to help developers produce code changes. What has worked in other environments might not work in Salesforce. And when it comes to using generic static code analysis tools, lack of specificity leads to missed errors.
Not having the ability to spot Salesforce-specific issues with dedicated rulesets leads to the failure to understand code patterns, customizations, and configurations.
Salesforce developers understand their environments; it might take some time for developers working in more traditional environments to gain proficiency in the UI. Generic tools work much the same way—except they can’t learn to adapt.
3. Unhelpful Focus on CVE/CVSS Scores
Common Vulnerability Exposures (CVE) define frequent coding liabilities. The Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) stipulates metrics and classifies data security threats according to how dangerous they can be to IT systems. These industry standards are widely used by InfoSec teams to address emerging issues and better understand threats to their system.
Generic SAST tools use CVE and CVSS scores to prioritize threats. However, multiple studies show this is worse than randomly picking findings to address.
Dedicated static code analysis tools enable users to dictate which standards are most important for their needs. Generic tools are not capable of this level of customization, which makes it incredibly difficult to achieve specific compliance and business targets.
4. Difficult Integrations Across Components
The Salesforce environment itself includes a series of aspects like Apex code, Lightning components, declarative configurations, and Visualforce pages. Every DevSecOps tool in your application lifecycle management system needs to be able to understand and integrate with all of these aspects to provide the coverage you need to remain secure and productive.
Generic tools struggle to seamlessly integrate with the various aspects of the Salesforce development environment.
Code quality tools need to analyze every component of the environment in which they are working. Failing to do so can lead to wasted labor hours and developer frustration. Generic tools lack this integration in Salesforce, which can cause incomplete and inconsistent results.
5. Limited Customizations
Salesforce is highly customizable. Businesses across nearly every industry use Salesforce for both CRM and development needs. The ability to integrate various managed packages and customizations extends the platform’s capabilities and offers a lot of power. The DevOps tools used by the development team need to be able to match this customizability to get the most from the platform’s potential.
Generic code quality tools lack Salesforce’s extensive options for custom tools and functions.
A robust, metadata-driven development model enables Salesforce developers to mold the platform to their preferences. DevOps tools need to be able to keep up with this and generic tools are often unable to do so.
6. Incompatibility with Surrounding DevOps Toolsets
There is a specialized ecosystem of tools and services within Salesforce. DevOps teams enjoy features and integrations tailored to the platform for more accurate analyses, automated testing, and streamlined workflows.
Generic tools are often incompatible with this ecosystem of tools, which silos their benefits and makes it much more difficult to use these tools in tandem.
Salesforce DevSecOps tools work best when they are able to work together to provide greater benefits. Multiple lines of testing throughout the various stages of the application life cycle ensure bugs and errors are caught prior to production. Generic tools that are unable to integrate with this system don’t offer as many benefits.
7. Lack of Coverage that Creates Data Security Vulnerabilities
All of these factors equate to a lack of coverage for code quality and the resulting instability of the update or application. And when stability isn’t guaranteed, data security vulnerabilities become increasingly possible. Faulty updates with bugs in a live environment can misfire, exposing information, routing it to incorrect locations, and potentially opening up back doors for bad actors to access your system.
Generic code quality tools don’t provide the comprehensive coverage you need to guarantee the stability of your updates necessary to keep your Salesforce environment secure.
Only total coverage gives you the peace of mind possible with guaranteed proper coding structures. A strong static code analysis tool results in a fortified data security strategy.
8. Requirement for Language Coverage and Salesforce Expertise
When it comes to the quality and security of your Salesforce DevOps projects, a high-quality static code analysis tool is essential. A combination of language coverage and Salesforce domain expertise enables DevOps teams to address and remediate the most critical vulnerabilities in the code before they have a chance to harm their environment.
Built for Salesforce developers, CodeScan combines the power of a dedicated static code analysis solution with policy management to support administrators cleaning up their environment.
Securing a reliable static code analysis tool immediately streamlines the writing stage of the DevOps pipeline. Errors are found in real time so developers can fix them long before they impact security or the end-user experience.
Next Step…
Generic code quality tools don’t provide the necessary coverage for a secure and optimized Salesforce DevSecOps pipeline. So how do you know which tool will work best for your application life cycle?
Check out our blog, “How to Select a Salesforce Code Review Tool,” to learn how to weigh your options.