Are there any code analysis tools that will make my job easier? [closed]

Question

I have recently inherited a program written in Managed C++ from some guy who just retired. After spending some time digging through it, I can honestly say that at least 95% of it belongs on thedailywtf. However, I am now tasked with modifying it and porting it over to a language I'm comfortable with.

The program itself takes in many many parameters (50+) read in from a file and performs a series of calculations and spits out a report. Once I'm done plowing my way through pages of 3 letter variables (many of them reused for totally unrelated purposes), I need to come up with a way to test my code to make sure it comes up with the same answers as the previous code.

This is most likely wishful thinking, but are there any automated code analysis tools out there that can aid me in this task in any way or form?

I will be porting it over to Java.

Answer 1

I need to come up with a way to test my code to make sure it comes up with the same answers as the previous code.

Unit Testing

Since you mentioned that it is about a program that takes parameters in a file and outputs a report, you could generate a few inputs that give sufficient coverage to the portions you want to unit test against the output from the old code.

If something breaks don't forget there is also a chance you have discovered a bug in the old code.

http://www.junit.org/

Progressive Port

I'd go for porting it piece by piece, I kind of feel it will fit your problem since in a report you can grab specific fields and ignore those that you have not ported yet (assuming to output one field/calculation you do not need the whole program to be ported) and verify it against the correct value from the old code (or other correct source in case of bugs in the old code).