SonarQube vs PMD: Java Static Analysis Compared...

Quick Verdict SonarQube and PMD are not direct competitors - they operate at fundamentally different levels of the Java development toolchain. Comparing them as alternatives to each other is like comparing a flight operations center to a single cockpit instrument. Both help you fly the plane, but one provides a single reading and the other provides a complete operations view across an entire fleet. PMD is a free, open-source static analysis tool. You add it to your Maven or Gradle build, point i