How Codacy Helps Hanson’s Development Team Up Their Game

Introduction

In today’s web, a site that “works” isn’t enough. It also needs to be secure, reliable and easy to maintain as your business and technology evolve. With the rise in cyber threats and data breaches, it’s important to maintain a high level of security in your website’s code. At Hanson, one of the ways we support that standard is through automated code scanning using Codacy.

‍What Is Code Scanning?

Code scanning, often called static code analysis or static application security testing (SAST), is the practice of analyzing source code without running it. It’s like an advanced spell-checker, but for programming. Code scanners look for common patterns of mistakes and badly written code to anticipate what may lead to bugs or security issues later on. It can handle many different computer languages and has special rules and checks for each. Instead of waiting for bugs or security holes to show up in production, a scanner reviews the code itself and flags:

• Security vulnerabilities
• Code quality issues (that make the code harder to read and maintain later)
• Style and standards violations
• Potential performance and reliability problems

Think of it as a comprehensive health check for your codebase. It doesn’t replace human developers or QA, but it gives them a powerful assist in identifying potential problems.

‍How Code Scanning Helps Us (and Our Clients)

For our clients, the value of code scanning shows up in a few key ways:

1. Catches security risks early. Scans help us identify vulnerabilities before they become real risks. That reduces the likelihood of issues like data exposure, injection attacks or insecure configurations that could impact our clients’ users and reputations.
2. Maintains code health and readability. Healthy, readable code is easier and more cost-effective to work with over time. This also reduces the chance that a future change turns into a sudden, expensive emergency fix because the underlying codebase has quietly deteriorated. Code scanning ensures that we:
   
   • spot duplicated, fragile or overly complex code
   • enforce consistent standards across teams and projects
   • make future updates smoother and more predictable
3. ‍Keeps us ahead of evolving standards and expectations. Security best practices, browser behavior, frameworks, and user expectations all change over time. A site that was “up to standard” at launch can drift out of alignment rather quickly. Regular scanning helps us stay ahead of those changes instead of playing catch-up after an incident.‍
4. Supports contractual and compliance needs. Many organizations now expect or require proactive security and code-quality practices in their contracts and MSAs. Code scanning helps us demonstrate due diligence and provide documentation to support audits or other compliance efforts.

Why We Use Codacy

We evaluated a number of the leading code-scanning tools, but we chose Codacy as our primary platform because it offers:

• ‍Comprehensive checks for security, code quality and coding standards‍
• Clear, actionable reports that focus on what actually needs attention‍
• Easy sharing and collaboration so we can review issues together with our clients when needed
• Strong value for the cost, allowing us to deliver meaningful improvements without inflating maintenance budgets

In short, Codacy turns a sea of potential warnings into a clear, prioritized list of issues that actually matter to your site. And because it’s offered at a reasonable, flat cost that isn’t tied to the number of lines of code, it’s a tool we can confidently use across all of our clients’ codebases, no matter the size or complexity of their sites.

Where Codacy Is Most Helpful

While code scanning is useful on almost any project, it’s especially valuable in a few scenarios:

• Long-term maintenance engagement. If we’re responsible for a client’s site over time, code scanning helps us keep it secure and maintainable, not just “working today.”

• Recently launched sites (6–18 months). Right after launch, everyone is focused on go-live. But the following 30/60/90 day intervals are the perfect times to tighten up security and quality (based on how the site is actually being used).
• Legacy sites and long-running codebases. If your site has been live for years, with many developers touching it over time (or none at all), scanning can:
  
  • reveal hidden risks and fragile areas
  • provide a baseline picture of technical debt
  • help you plan a roadmap of improvements instead of reacting to crises
• Inherited or “we didn’t build this” sites. If you or we have inherited a codebase someone else built, a formal scan helps us quickly understand:
  
  • What’s safe and solid
  • What needs attention soon
  • What’s okay to defer but worth tracking
  This gives everyone a shared, objective view of the code’s strengths and weaknesses.

The Bottom Line: Code Scanning Belongs in Modern Development

Code scanning isn’t a luxury add-on anymore. It’s a core part of a modern, responsible web development workflow.

With Codacy and a thoughtful review process, Hanson can help you:

• Keep your site more secure
• Reduce the risk of costly emergency fixes
• Maintain higher code quality and consistency
• Demonstrate due diligence to stakeholders, auditors and customers

If you’d like to understand the health of your current codebase — whether it’s brand-new, long-running, or something you’ve recently inherited — we can help. We’ll walk you through what’s involved, what you can expect to learn, and how the results can support smarter, safer decisions about your digital platform.