Find and Fix Issues with Android Studio Static Code Analysis
Article Summary
Brian Plummer from OkCupid reveals how their team uses Android Studio's built-in static analysis to systematically improve code quality. But running the tool is the easy part—merging those changes without breaking production is where most teams fail.
Android Studio includes powerful static code analysis that can catch everything from internationalization issues to visibility problems. The OkCupid engineering team shares their battle-tested process for finding issues at scale and actually shipping the fixes without introducing bugs or overwhelming code reviewers.
Key Takeaways
- Group similar changes together and keep PRs small for easier review
- Merge refactoring changes right after releases to maximize testing time
- Low-risk changes like removing unused imports can touch many files safely
- Start with auto-fixable issues: private visibility, const declarations, redundant qualifiers
Critical Insight
Static analysis finds the issues, but strategic batching, timing, and communication turn those findings into merged improvements instead of abandoned PRs.
