Analyzing code with the Maven Checkstyle plugin

Checkstyle is a tool that helps programmers follow coding standards. It automates the process of checking if defined coding standards are followed. It can support any coding standards by suitable configuration. Like other tools, it can be run standalone as well as integrated with Maven.

How to do it...

Use the following steps to analyze code with the Maven Checkstyle plugin:

1. Open the Maven project for which you want to do a Checkstyle analysis (for instance, project-with-violations).

2. Run the following command:

   mvn checkstyle:checkstyle
   

3. Observe the output as shown in the following screenshot:

   [INFO]
   [INFO] --- maven-checkstyle-plugin:2.13:checkstyle (default-cli) @ project-with-violations ---
   [INFO]
   [INFO] There are 29 checkstyle errors.
   [WARNING] Unable to locate Source XRef to link to - DISABLED
   [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   [INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
   

4. Open the checkstyle-result.xml report in the target...