SpotBugs is a program which uses static analysis to look for bugs in Java code. SpotBugs is open source (LGPL).
SpotBugs checks for more than 400 bug patterns, such as null pointer dereferences, infinite recursive loops, bad uses of the Java libraries and deadlocks. Bug descriptions can be found here.
SpotBugs Eclipse Plugin integrates SpotBugs seamlessly with the most popular Java IDE and allows to run SpotBugs analysis incrementally on changed files or on demand per project. A quick plugin introduction is available at https://spotbugs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/eclipse.html and a short video demo is available on YouTube.
SpotBugs is the spiritual successor of FindBugs, carrying on from the point where FindBugs left off with support of its community. SpotBugs is developed by an open source community and depends on the help from community. Please consider to help the project with patches, testing or simply improving documentation - your help is highly appreciated.
Submit your issue or suggestion at github and start contributing to the project!
Update sites:
- https://spotbugs.github.io/eclipse/ - provides official releases of SpotBugs Eclipse plugin.
- https://spotbugs.github.io/eclipse-candidate/ - provides official releases and release candidates of SpotBugs Eclipse plugin.
- https://spotbugs.github.io/eclipse-latest/ - provides latest SpotBugs Eclipse plugin built from master branch.
Categories:IDE, Source Code Analyzer, Tools
Additional Details
Eclipse Versions: 2024-09 (4.33), 2024-06 (4.32), 2024-03 (4.31), 2023-12 (4.30), 2023-09 (4.29), 2023-06 (4.28), 2023-03 (4.27), 2022-12 (4.26), 2022-09 (4.25), 2022-06 (4.24), 2022-03 (4.23), 2021-12 (4.22), 2021-09 (4.21), 2021-06 (4.20), 2021-03 (4.19), 2024-12 (4.34), 2025-03 (4.35), 2025-06 (4.36)
Platform Support: Windows, Mac, Linux/GTK
Organization Name: SpotBugs Team
Development Status: Production/Stable
Date Created: Thursday, June 29, 2017 - 23:59
License: LGPL
Date Updated: Wednesday, July 17, 2024 - 02:29
Submitted by:Kengo TODA
| Date | Ranking | Installs | Clickthroughs |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2025 | 25/619 | 1017 | 23 |
| March 2025 | 31/661 | 1065 | 28 |
| February 2025 | 35/645 | 789 | 32 |
| January 2025 | 25/654 | 1320 | 26 |
| December 2024 | 31/654 | 878 | 19 |
| November 2024 | 31/658 | 1072 | 33 |
| October 2024 | 27/663 | 1368 | 20 |
| September 2024 | 28/642 | 1055 | 18 |
| August 2024 | 25/641 | 1367 | 27 |
| July 2024 | 38/663 | 874 | 22 |
| June 2024 | 32/681 | 1007 | 35 |
| May 2024 | 45/682 | 884 | 23 |
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Reviews Add new review
No repository found
Submitted by claude chauvin on Tue, 12/20/2022 - 04:40
Hi,
I use eclipse ide (4.8 photon) and I would like to install the spotbug plugin.
but I get this error message "No repository found at url spotbugs.github.io/eclipse"
and this another message : This is Eclipse Plugin Update Site for SpotBugs Eclipse Plugin. Use this URL to install plugin with the Eclipse Update Manager.
Plugin ID com.github.spotbugs.plugin.eclipse
Version 4.7.3.r202210170504-fa9e53a
I didn't manage to install the plugin. I also tried without success with Eclipse 4.16 (2020-06),
I don't understand how others do it.
Please, could you help me,
Re: No repository found
Submitted by Andrey Loskutov on Tue, 12/20/2022 - 10:56
In reply to No repository found by claude chauvin
Same procedure like with any other update site / plugin.
Help -> Install New Software ... -> Work with -> https://spotbugs.github.io/eclipse/ -> Check "SpotBugs" -> Next -> Next -> Accept License -> Finish.
Re: Re: No repository found
Submitted by claude chauvin on Fri, 12/30/2022 - 09:47
In reply to Re: No repository found by Andrey Loskutov
Thank you for your help Andrey,
It works very well on my personal pc (my difficulty to install at work must be due to a special configuration),
Wishing you a great year ahead !
M2E-Connector for SpotBugs plugin?
Submitted by Prem Shankar on Sun, 10/29/2017 - 03:51
Is there a m2e connector for Spotbugs plugin like we have m2e connector for Findbugs plugin? As I am using Eclipse Oxygen, I can't install FindBugs plugin.
Great plug-in, a must have for every Java dev!!
Submitted by Marko Zajc on Mon, 10/02/2017 - 09:14
This plug-in helped me solve many known and unknown bugs. It tells you exactly in what conditions the bug occurs, on which line it occurs and how to fix it. Just great!
A great tool, support for Eclipse Photon?
Submitted by Marko Zajc on Mon, 10/02/2017 - 07:22
This tool worked just great in Oxygen 1, but the RV_RETURN_VALUE_IGNORED_INFERRED detector does no longer work in Eclipse Photon. Is there a way to solve it other than using Oxygen instead?
Solved
Submitted by Marko Zajc on Mon, 10/02/2017 - 09:15
In reply to A great tool, support for Eclipse Photon? by Marko Zajc
I solved the issue, it was a detector configuration mistake!
A "must have" tool for every Java developer
Submitted by Andrey Loskutov on Sun, 07/02/2017 - 03:51
You use JUnit to test your code? You perform code reviews?
If yes, then here is the tool which will find test failures and review issues even before you build your application - just as you type. If not, here is the tool which (in few minutes) will give you the proof, that your code is not worth to be deployed at all, and a good reason to start testing your application and to review your code.
SpotBugs works similar to the Java compiler: as soon as you hit CTRL+S, Eclipse will compile the code and start incremental bug analysis. SpotBugs can find an amazing number of different bug patterns, which are sometimes hard to debug or to reproduce. SpotBugs has a very small number of false positives. Even if you think that the code will never run in the highlighted issue, in many cases the tool open your eyes on "dirty" places in your code.
SpotBugs is valuable for both beginner and experienced programmers. If you just start to write Java applications, the tool will help you to learn better programming practices by explaining you the reasons why the code should be written in a different way. SpotBugs helps experienced developers to keep the code clean and to review other's code by simply running the analysis over the Java projects.
SpotBugs uses unique bytecode scanning techniques to analyze compiled Java code. In most cases the critical and medium severity bugs found by SpotBugs are real, serious programming errors, and not just coding style issues. This is the main differentiator to other similar tools like PMD and Checkstyle (both are source-code analyzer).
I cannot imagine to seriously develop Java software without SpotBugs Eclipse plugin anymore. For those who knows Ant , Maven, Hudson or Jenkins: of course, they also have plugins for SpotBugs, so that you can use same tool as in your IDE to analyze your software during automated tests.