Improving applications with CAST Imaging on Cloud

Overview

CAST Imaging on Cloud helps architects and tech leads identify and analyze critical structural flaws in applications based on ISO-5055 standards. By providing visibility into violations across key quality factors - Security, Performance/Efficiency and Reliability - it enables teams to plan and prioritize improvements effectively.

Why improve an application?

Ensuring software quality is essential for maintaining a stable, efficient, and secure system. CAST Imaging on Cloud helps users detect structural issues that could impact performance, security, or reliability. Because structural flaws are complex to resolve, often requiring architectural changes or advanced expertise, CAST Imaging provides essential guidance on identifying critical flaws. This enables teams to make informed decisions and effectively plan necessary improvements.

Key capabilities

CAST Imaging on Cloud offers a structured approach to pinpointing application weaknesses and planning remediation efforts. It provides insights into violations and the corresponding rules governing Security, Performance-Efficiency, and Reliability.

Identifying Structural Flaws

CAST Imaging scans the application and highlights critical violations based on ISO-5055 standards. Users gain a comprehensive view of issues affecting security, performance, and reliability. The tool categorizes violations under specific rules and presents them in a structured list for easy navigation.

Exploring Violations and Rules

When a specific quality factor is selected, CAST Imaging on Cloud provides a detailed web application interface displaying:

  • A categorized list of rules and their corresponding violations.
  • An interactive graph that visually represents impacted objects and their dependencies.
  • Detailed object characteristics, including metadata such as file location, complexity, and links to affected transactions or data call graphs

Guiding remediation planning

Each rule is accompanied by documentation outlining its impact and suggested remediation strategies. CAST Imaging on Cloud helps users:

  • Prioritize critical flaws requiring immediate attention.
  • Assess the scope of necessary modifications.
  • Develop an informed strategy for implementing changes.

The remediation guidance provides actionable recommendations, such as security best practices (e.g., using authorized sanitization methods for SQL injection risks).

Defining an action plan

To facilitate remediation planning, CAST Imaging on Cloud allows users to organize and track structural flaws using tags. The tagging feature enables teams to categorize violations based on business impact, priority, or ongoing initiatives. In the screenshot below, a security-related violation is tagged with a Jira ticket reference, linking the issue directly to an action plan. This capability helps development teams coordinate efforts efficiently, ensuring that critical flaws are addressed systematically.

How it works

  1. Run the analyzer – download the Windows or Docker-based Analyzer and scan the application locally.
  2. Upload analysis results – only the structural analysis results are uploaded, ensuring security.
  3. Explore and assess – Use CAST Imaging to investigate violations, review dependency graphs, and plan corrective actions.

Conclusion

CAST Imaging on Cloud empowers architects and tech leads to proactively manage software quality by identifying and analyzing critical structural flaws. By providing visibility into violations and remediation strategies, it supports informed decision-making and long-term application improvements.