CodeQL zero to hero part 2: Getting started with CodeQL

CodeQL, a static analysis tool developed by Semmle and acquired by GitHub in 2019, is designed to automatically scan applications for vulnerabilities and assist with manual code reviews. It employs data flow and taint analysis to identify code errors, check code quality, and detect vulnerabilities across various programming languages such as C/C++, Java, Python, and more. A key feature of CodeQL is its ability to analyze code by creating a database of facts about a program, which can be queried using a specialized language, QL, to find vulnerable patterns like SQL injection. CodeQL is integrated with GitHub Actions, enabling code scanning in CI/CD pipelines for public repositories, and its queries are open-source, allowing contributions from the community. The tool provides security researchers and developers with capabilities for automated scanning, variant analysis, and assistance during manual code reviews, enhancing application security by preventing vulnerabilities from being introduced. CodeQL's flexibility extends to the creation of databases either by downloading from GitHub or generating locally, with support for both interpreted and compiled languages, enabling robust and scalable security assessments of codebases.