Is it possible to remove dead code using CppCheck?

Question

Is it possible to remove C++ dead code using CppCheck?

If so, how?

Answer 1

Like other code analyzers, Cppcheck helps you find dead code, but it cannot fix the code automatically. You should examine the code yourself and decide whether and how to fix it.

Analyzers do not fix code automatically for two reasons:

1. It may not be an error. First, static analyzers may issue false positive warning. Second, dead code doesn't mean it's not needed. Perhaps the code is executed in other compilation modes.
2. Even if the analyzer has detected a real error, it is not always obvious how to fix it. Even a human can make a mistake and fix the code incorrectly, so it is definitely not a good idea to entrust it to a machine. Here is a good example on this topic.