Staticcheck is an advanced static analysis linter for Go that finds bugs, performance issues, offers code simplifications, and enforces style rules.
The tool uses static analysis to examine Go code without executing it, identifying problems that range from correctness issues to performance inefficiencies and style violations. It operates as a command-line tool that integrates into development workflows and CI/CD pipelines to catch issues before code is deployed.
Staticcheck suits any Go project where code quality and correctness matter, from small utilities to large production systems. The repository also includes complementary tools for struct memory layout analysis: structlayout displays field sizes and padding within structs, structlayout-optimize reorders fields to minimize padding overhead, and structlayout-pretty formats the output with ASCII art visualization. Installation is straightforward via go install with released versions, and prebuilt binaries are available. The tool can analyze code targeting any Go version up to the latest release.
The project is actively maintained with financial support from private and corporate sponsors, ensuring continued development. The codebase includes both the main staticcheck tool and supporting libraries, though the libraries lack stable APIs and may experience backwards-incompatible changes. The master branch is generally stable but may contain new checks or breaking changes, positioning it as suitable for beta testing. Extensive documentation is available on the project's website covering installation, usage, and the checks performed.
