Draft:Axivion Suite

Axivion Suite is a tool suite that contains static code analysis and automated software architecture analysis. It was originally developed by German-based Axivion GmbH, which was acquired by Qt Group in August 2022.

With a focus on static code analysis and a range of advanced features, Axivion Suite's goal is to identify potential problems early in the development process, to achieve time savings and reduce the risk of costly errors. Its software architecture check (Axivion Architecture Verification) aims at ensuring that the system’s structure matches the code.

History
Axivion was founded 2006 and is headquartered in Stuttgart. Axivion Suite was the commercial spin-off of Axivion Bauhaus Project. Research then was done at Axivion, the Institute of Software Technology, Department of Programming Languages at the University of Stuttgart as well as at the Software Engineering Group of the Faculty 03 at the University of Bremen.

On August 11, 2022, the Qt Group acquired Axivion GmbH. Since then, the Axivion Suite has been further developed and distributed by Qt as part of its quality assurance offering.

Components of Axivion Suite
Axivion Static Code Analysis (SCA) is a set of static code analysis tools that helps developers ensure the quality, security and maintainability of their complex software projects.

The tool uses static code analysis techniques to identify coding guideline violations by, e.g., MISRA, Autosar or CERT checks, security-related issues, metrics violations, clones, cycles and unreachable code for software written in C, C++ or C#.

By automating these quality checks, developers can focus on tasks that require human intelligence and creativity, while repetitive tasks are taken care of by the tool. This can help prevent software erosion, also known as technical debt, which can affect the functionality, security and safety of a software system over time.

SCA is certified for use in the development of safety systems by SGS-TÜV Saar GmbH for the following safety-relevant standards  :
 * ISO 26262 up to ASIL D
 * IEC 61508 up to SIL 4
 * IEC 62304 up to Class C
 * EN 50128 up to SIL 4
 * EN 50657 up to SIL 4

Axivion Architecture Verification (AV) specializes in analyzing and verifying the architectural integrity of complex software systems. This tool is designed to ensure that code matches the software's pre-defined architecture and that systems conform with established architectural guidelines and best practices. To create the structural model of a software architecture, it can either be set up manually or imported from a UML model or from any other machine-readable graph structure.

AV can detect architectural violations early in the development process by identifying potential issues such as circular dependencies, violations of layering rules, and other architectural inconsistencies. It targets the same programming languages as SCA.

Axivion suite provides wrappers for most compilers and target platforms, together with integrations into most version control systems. These allow Axivion suite to be used as part of a continuous integration (CI) process where analysis results are connected to versions of the software under development. These analysis results are then send to a local server component, which can also be used to integrate the results of other analysis tools during the CI process. The server components computes metrics based on the results, allows developers to compare the evolution of results over multiple versions, and generates reports. It can also trigger further actions in the continuous integration process.

A web-based user interface component connects to the server component to allow developers to inspect the results of the analysis. The results can also be inspected directly in an IDE. Axivion Suite provides plugins for the following IDEs.
 * Eclipse and proprietary extensions of it, e.g., Code Composer Studio
 * Visual Studio
 * Visual Studio Code
 * CLion

Axivion Suite also provides a Python-based API that allows developers to write their own rules. The API allows access to common program analysis data structures like ASTs, control flow or data flow graphs, as well as reachability and numerical information of the analyzed software.

Applications
Axivion Suite is used by software developers in many industries, e.g., automation technology , automotive  , aviation, aerospace, consulting and engineering services , electronics , information technology, mechanical engineering , medical technology , pharmaceutical & laboratory technology, and railway technology.