C++¶

Modern C++ (C++11 through C++20) is a fundamentally different language from the C-with-classes of the 1990s. These 13 principles encode the C++ Core Guidelines philosophy: resource safety through RAII, type safety through smart pointers, and clarity through auto, const, and override.

Optional External Tool Augmentation¶

Consent-first external tooling

External tool execution is optional and disabled by default. Use --enable-external-tools (CLI) or enable_external_tools=true (MCP) to opt in. Missing tools should return recommendations; no automatic installs occur during analysis.

Tool	Default invocation	Output
`cppcheck`	`cppcheck --language=c++ -`	Text / structured stderr

Zen Principles¶

13 principles across 7 categories, drawn from C++ Core Guidelines.

Correctness · 3 principles Design · 3 principles Idioms · 2 principles Memory Management · 2 principles Performance · 1 principle Resource Management · 1 principle Type Safety · 1 principle

Rule ID	Principle	Category	Severity	Dogma
`cpp-001`	Use RAII for resource management	Resource Management	9	`ZEN-STRICT-FENCES`
`cpp-002`	Prefer smart pointers over raw pointers	Memory Management	9	`ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE`
`cpp-003`	Use auto for type deduction	Idioms	6	`ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION`
`cpp-004`	Prefer nullptr over NULL or 0	Correctness	7	`ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT`
`cpp-005`	Use range-based for loops	Idioms	6	`ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION`
`cpp-006`	Avoid manual memory allocation	Memory Management	9	`ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE`
`cpp-007`	Use const correctness	Correctness	8	`ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT`
`cpp-008`	Avoid C-style casts	Type Safety	7	`ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT`
`cpp-009`	Follow Rule of Zero/Three/Five	Design	8	`ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION`
`cpp-010`	Use std::move for rvalue references	Performance	7	`ZEN-PROPORTIONATE-COMPLEXITY`
`cpp-011`	Avoid global variables	Design	8	`ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION`, `ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE`
`cpp-012`	Use override and final keywords	Correctness	7	`ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT`
`cpp-013`	Prefer std::optional over null pointers	Design	6	`ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION`

cpp-001 — Use RAII for resource management

Resources should be tied to object lifetime

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-STRICT-FENCES Common Violations:

Manual new/delete
Naked pointers for ownership
Not using smart pointers
Missing destructors for resource cleanup

Detectable Patterns:

new
delete
malloc(
free(

Recommended Fix

unique_ptr, shared_ptr, RAII wrappers

cpp-002 — Prefer smart pointers over raw pointers

Use unique_ptr, shared_ptr for ownership

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE Common Violations:

new/delete in modern code
Raw pointers for ownership
Manual memory management
Not using make_unique/make_shared

Detectable Patterns:

new Type
delete ptr

cpp-003 — Use auto for type deduction

Let the compiler deduce obvious types

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION Common Violations:

Verbose type declarations when auto works
Iterator types spelled out
Not using auto in range-based for

Detectable Patterns:

!auto

cpp-004 — Prefer nullptr over NULL or 0

Use nullptr for pointer initialization

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT Common Violations:

Using NULL macro
Using 0 for null pointers
Not using nullptr

Detectable Patterns:

= NULL
== NULL
ptr = 0

cpp-005 — Use range-based for loops

Prefer for(auto& item : container)

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION Common Violations:

Index-based iteration
Iterator-based loops when range-for works
Manual iteration with .begin()/.end()

Detectable Patterns:

.begin()
.end()

cpp-006 — Avoid manual memory allocation

Use containers and smart pointers

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE Common Violations:

malloc/free in C++ code
new[] without corresponding delete[]
Manual array management
Not using std::vector, std::array

Detectable Patterns:

malloc(
free(
new[
delete[

cpp-007 — Use const correctness

Mark everything const that can be const

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT Common Violations:

Non-const member functions that don't modify
Missing const references in parameters
Mutable data without justification
Not using constexpr when possible

Detectable Patterns:

!const

cpp-008 — Avoid C-style casts

Use static_cast, dynamic_cast, const_cast

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT Common Violations:

C-style casts: (Type)value
Implicit dangerous conversions
Not using explicit casts

Detectable Patterns:

(Type)
C-style cast

cpp-009 — Follow Rule of Zero/Three/Five

Properly manage special member functions

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION Common Violations:

Custom destructor without copy/move control
Copy constructor without assignment operator
Not using =default or =delete
Incomplete rule of five

Detectable Patterns:

operator=
= delete
= default

cpp-010 — Use std::move for rvalue references

Enable move semantics for efficiency

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-PROPORTIONATE-COMPLEXITY Common Violations:

Copying when moving would work
Not implementing move constructors
Not using std::forward in templates

Detectable Patterns:

!std::move

cpp-011 — Avoid global variables

Minimize mutable global state

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION, ZEN-VISIBLE-STATE Common Violations:

Mutable global variables
Singleton abuse
Static member variables as globals

Detectable Patterns:

static
extern

cpp-012 — Use override and final keywords

Explicitly mark virtual function overrides

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-EXPLICIT-INTENT Common Violations:

Virtual functions without override
Not using final for non-overridable functions
Missing virtual in base class

Detectable Patterns:

virtual function without override keyword

cpp-013 — Prefer std::optional over null pointers

Use std::optional for optional values

Universal Dogmas: ZEN-RIGHT-ABSTRACTION Common Violations:

Pointers for optional values
Special sentinel values (-1, nullptr)
Not using std::optional in C++17+

Detectable Patterns:

!std::optional

Detector Catalog¶

Correctness¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppConstCorrectnessDetector	Flags non-const references where `const` qualification is appropriate	`cpp-007`
CppOverrideFinalDetector	Flags `virtual` overrides missing the `override` or `final` specifier	`cpp-012`
CppNullptrDetector	Flags legacy `NULL` macro usage instead of the type-safe `nullptr` literal	`cpp-004`

Design¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppRuleOfFiveDetector	Flags classes with destructors but missing copy/move special members	`cpp-009`
CppAvoidGlobalsDetector	Detects mutable global and file-scope `static`/`extern` variables	`cpp-011`
CppOptionalDetector	Suggests `std::optional` over nullable raw pointers for optional values	`cpp-013`

Idioms¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppAutoDetector	Suggests `auto` type deduction where explicit `std::` types add verbosity	`cpp-003`
CppRangeForDetector	Flags iterator-based `for` loops that should use range-based `for`	`cpp-005`

Memory Management¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppManualAllocationDetector	Detects C-style heap allocation (`malloc`/`free`, `new[]`/`delete[]`)	`cpp-006`
CppSmartPointerDetector	Flags raw `new`/`delete` usage where smart pointers should be used	`cpp-002`

Performance¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppMoveDetector	Flags rvalue references (`&&`) without corresponding `std::move`	`cpp-010`

Resource Management¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppRaiiDetector	Detects manual resource management that should use RAII wrappers	`cpp-001`

Type Safety¶

Detector	What It Catches	Rule IDs
CppCStyleCastDetector	Detects C-style casts that should use `static_cast`/`dynamic_cast`	`cpp-008`

Principle → Detector Wiring

%%{init: {"theme": "base", "flowchart": {"useMaxWidth": false, "htmlLabels": true, "nodeSpacing": 40, "rankSpacing": 60}}}%%
graph TD
cpp_001["cpp-001<br/>Use RAII for resource man..."]
cpp_002["cpp-002<br/>Prefer smart pointers ove..."]
cpp_003["cpp-003<br/>Use auto for type deducti..."]
cpp_004["cpp-004<br/>Prefer nullptr over NULL ..."]
cpp_005["cpp-005<br/>Use range-based for loops"]
cpp_006["cpp-006<br/>Avoid manual memory alloc..."]
cpp_007["cpp-007<br/>Use const correctness"]
cpp_008["cpp-008<br/>Avoid C-style casts"]
cpp_009["cpp-009<br/>Follow Rule of Zero/Three..."]
cpp_010["cpp-010<br/>Use std::move for rvalue ..."]
cpp_011["cpp-011<br/>Avoid global variables"]
cpp_012["cpp-012<br/>Use override and final ke..."]
cpp_013["cpp-013<br/>Prefer std::optional over..."]
det_CppAutoDetector["Cpp Auto"]
cpp_003 --> det_CppAutoDetector
det_CppAvoidGlobalsDetector["Cpp Avoid<br/>Globals"]
cpp_011 --> det_CppAvoidGlobalsDetector
det_CppCStyleCastDetector["Cpp C<br/>Style Cast"]
cpp_008 --> det_CppCStyleCastDetector
det_CppConstCorrectnessDetector["Cpp Const<br/>Correctness"]
cpp_007 --> det_CppConstCorrectnessDetector
det_CppManualAllocationDetector["Cpp Manual<br/>Allocation"]
cpp_006 --> det_CppManualAllocationDetector
det_CppMoveDetector["Cpp Move"]
cpp_010 --> det_CppMoveDetector
det_CppNullptrDetector["Cpp Nullptr"]
cpp_004 --> det_CppNullptrDetector
det_CppOptionalDetector["Cpp Optional"]
cpp_013 --> det_CppOptionalDetector
det_CppOverrideFinalDetector["Cpp Override<br/>Final"]
cpp_012 --> det_CppOverrideFinalDetector
det_CppRaiiDetector["Cpp Raii"]
cpp_001 --> det_CppRaiiDetector
det_CppRangeForDetector["Cpp Range<br/>For"]
cpp_005 --> det_CppRangeForDetector
det_CppRuleOfFiveDetector["Cpp Rule<br/>Of Five"]
cpp_009 --> det_CppRuleOfFiveDetector
det_CppSmartPointerDetector["Cpp Smart<br/>Pointer"]
cpp_002 --> det_CppSmartPointerDetector

Detector Class Hierarchy

%%{init: {"theme": "base"}}%%
classDiagram
    direction TB
    class ViolationDetector {
        <<abstract>>
        +detect(context, config)
    }
    class det_01["Cpp Auto"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_01
    class det_02["Cpp Avoid Globals"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_02
    class det_03["Cpp C Style Cast"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_03
    class det_04["Cpp Const Correctness"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_04
    class det_05["Cpp Manual Allocation"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_05
    class det_06["Cpp Move"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_06
    class det_07["Cpp Nullptr"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_07
    class det_08["Cpp Optional"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_08
    class det_09["Cpp Override Final"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_09
    class det_10["Cpp Raii"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_10
    class det_11["Cpp Range For"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_11
    class det_12["Cpp Rule Of Five"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_12
    class det_13["Cpp Smart Pointer"]
    ViolationDetector <|-- det_13

Analysis Pipeline

%%{init: {"theme": "base", "flowchart": {"useMaxWidth": false, "htmlLabels": true, "nodeSpacing": 50, "rankSpacing": 70}}}%%
flowchart TD
Source(["Source Code"]) --> Parse["Parse & Tokenize"]
Parse --> Metrics["Compute Metrics"]
Metrics --> Pipeline{"13 Detectors"}
Pipeline --> Collect["Aggregate Violations"]
Collect --> Result(["AnalysisResult<br/>13 principles"])

Analysis States

%%{init: {"theme": "base"}}%%
stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Ready
    Ready --> Parsing : analyze(code)
    Parsing --> Computing : AST ready
    Computing --> Detecting : metrics ready
    Detecting --> Reporting : 13 detectors run
    Reporting --> [*] : AnalysisResult
    Parsing --> Reporting : parse error (best-effort)

Configuration¶

languages:
  cpp:
    enabled: true
    pipeline:

C++¶

Optional External Tool Augmentation¶

Zen Principles¶

Detector Catalog¶

Correctness¶

Design¶

Idioms¶

Memory Management¶

Performance¶

Resource Management¶

Type Safety¶

Configuration¶

See Also¶