Coverity Finds Python Sets New Level of Quality for Open Source Software

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Coverity, Inc., the leader in development testing, today announced the results of its second Coverity Scan™ Project Spotlight, which analyzed the Python open source software project, including defect density as compared to the industry average defect density for good quality software and types of defects identified.

Python software has been in use for more than 20 years, enabling secure and reliable programs for industry, service sector and research and science applications. Industry-leading organizations including CERN, Google, Mozilla and YouTube, among many others, incorporate the popular programming language into their applications. Python was one of the initial projects included in the Coverity Scan service, which enables the open source community to find and fix critical quality and security defects in their code. Since 2006, Python has achieved a defect density of .005 (or .005 defects per 1,000 lines of code) and has eliminated all high-risk defects in its codebase.

Coverity introduced its monthly Coverity Scan Project Spotlights due to extraordinary demand for the annual Coverity Scan Report and the insight it provides into the state of open source software quality. The Coverity Scan Report has become a widely accepted standard for measuring the state of open source software quality. The 2012 Scan Report found an average defect density of .69 for open source software projects that leverage the Coverity Scan service, as compared to the accepted industry standard defect density for good quality software of 1.0. Python's defect density of .005 significantly surpasses this standard, and introduces a new level of quality for open source software. To date, the Coverity Scan service has analyzed nearly 400,000 lines of Python code and identified 996 new defects – 860 of which have been fixed by the Python community.

"Python is the model citizen of good code quality practices, and we applaud their contributors and maintainers for their commitment to quality," said Jennifer Johnson, chief marketing officer for Coverity. "Python's decision to join the Coverity Scan service and leverage our industry-leading development testing platform has raised the bar for open source software. This Scan Spotlight – and Python's impressive level of software quality – should be a call to action for any C/C++ or Java open source project not yet reaping the benefits of the Coverity Scan service."

Online Resources

• Download a copy of the Coverity Scan Project Spotlight for Python
• Download a copy of the 2012 Coverity Scan Report
• Register your C/C++ or Java open source project for the Coverity Scan service

About Coverity Scan

In 2006, the Coverity Scan service was initiated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the largest public-private sector research project in the world, focused on open source software quality and security. Coverity now manages the project, providing its development testing technology as a free service to the open source community to help them build quality and security into their software development process. Register your open source project for the Coverity Scan service, and follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates.

About Coverity

Coverity, Inc. (www.coverity.com), the leader in development testing, is the trusted standard for companies that need to protect their brands and bottom lines from software failures. More than 1,100 Coverity customers use Coverity's development testing platform to automatically test source code for software defects that could lead to product crashes, unexpected behavior, security breaches or catastrophic failure. Coverity is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco. Coverity is funded by Foundation Capital and Benchmark Capital. Follow us on Twitter or check out our blog.

Coverity and Coverity Scan are trademarks or registered trademarks of Coverity, Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Coverity, Inc.