Understand 7.0:  Solve Critical Coding Challenges and Elevate Software Quality

SciTools is excited to announce the release of Understand 7.0, a major update to our leading code analysis and visualization platform. This release delivers significant enhancements across the board, empowering all developers with even greater control and deeper insights into their code, while also offering specialized features for those working in safety-critical industries like avionics.

This release includes a mix of brand-new features and enhancements that were added since the release of Understand 6.5. Here's a look at some of the key highlights:

CodeCheck Reimagined

We've completely overhauled the CodeCheck module in Understand 7.0, providing a more powerful and user-friendly experience:


  • Sleek New UI: A modernized interface makes navigating and managing code checks easier than ever.
  • Categories and Tags:  Organize and filter checks with ease using categories and tags.
  • Run and Compare: Execute multiple code checks and easily compare the results by identifying added and removed violations since the last run.
  • Display Flexibility: Choose how and where you view CodeCheck results, whether in the editor or the violation browser.
  • New Reporting Views:  Leverage new report formats to gain deeper insights into code quality.
  • Custom Interactive Reports:  Create your own interactive reports (IReports) to visualize and analyze CodeCheck results in a way that suits your needs.
  • Enhanced Command Line Interface: Theund command line interface for CodeCheck has been reworked to make it easier to use in CI and automation processes.
  • Compliance Reports: Easily demonstrate compliance with industry standards like MISRA and AUTOSAR with new compliance reporting features.

Streamlining Compliance for DO-178C and Other Standards

For developers working on safety-critical systems, Understand 7.0 introduces Check Qualification Reports, a powerful tool within CodeCheck that allows for the validation of CodeCheck checks themselves. You can now create a comprehensive validation suite to meet the stringent requirements of standards like DO-178C (and its predecessor DO-178B), ensuring the reliability and compliance of your code.

Enhanced Visualization and Analysis

Understand 7.0 brings powerful new visualization and analysis tools to your fingertips:

  • File Dependency Overview Graph: Visualize file dependencies with a stunningly unique graph that showcases how complex your project truly is.
  • Improved Dashboard/Home Page: A streamlined and more informative dashboard provides a clear overview of your project's key metrics and provides shortcuts to the most important features.
  • Enhanced Interactive Reports:  Dive deeper into your code with enhanced interactive reports that now include a variety of customization options like charts, tables and images. Make reports that show exactly the information you want to see.
  • Custom Charts:  Unlock a new level of data visualization with custom charts. Leverage the flexibility of the Understand Python API to create charts that perfectly represent your code metrics and analysis results.

Introducing the List Browser: Streamline Your Code Exploration

Understand 7.0 introduces the List Browser, a powerful new tool designed to simplify navigation through complex codebases. Seamlessly integrated with the Info Browser, the List Browser allows you to create lists of references and use colored flags to track your progress during debugging, refactoring, code reviews, and impact analysis. This structured and visual approach to managing references boosts productivity and helps you achieve a deeper understanding of your codebase.

Effortless Extensibility with the New Plugin Manager

Discover and enable new functionality with ease using the new Plugin Manager in Understand 7.0.  All plugins now ship with Understand, making it even easier to customize and extend your code analysis workflow.

Expanded Language Support and More

Understand 7.0 also includes a wide range of other improvements:

  • Expanded Language Support: Understand 7.0 adds support for C++23, C23, Java 21, and PHP 8, ensuring you're equipped to work with the latest language standards.
  • Visual Studio Code Plugin: Seamlessly integrate Understand into your VS Code workflow.
  • HIS Metrics: Gain valuable insights into code quality with Hersteller Initiative Software (HIS) measures.
  • Comparison Metrics: Track changes in code metrics over time to identify trends and potential issues.
  • Java Spring Support: Analyze and understand Java Spring applications with ease.
  • Renesas Projects and Compiler Support:  Added support for Renesas projects and compilers, expanding the range of embedded systems development environments supported by Understand.
  • Git Plugins: Leverage Git integration for deeper analysis and version control.
  • Automatic Architecture Plugins on Background Threads:  Architecture analysis runs smoothly in the background, improving performance.
  • GreenHill Project Support:  Added support for GreenHill projects.
  • Qt Signal and Slot References:  Easily navigate and understand Qt signal and slot connections.
  • Assignment References:  Track variable assignments throughout your code.

Explore the Future of Code Analysis

Ready to elevate your code comprehension to new heights? Download Understand 7.0 today from our website and experience the future of code analysis.

A Glimpse into the Future: AI-Powered Code Understanding

As a side project, we're also exploring the exciting potential of AI to further revolutionize code comprehension. We're currently developing AI-powered entity descriptions that will provide concise and informative summaries of classes, functions, and other code elements. This feature, generated locally to ensure the security of your code, is available by invitation only; contact us at [email protected] to learn more and request access.


Read the full 7.0 Build Notes here