Which practice helps in identifying vulnerabilities in an application?

Static code analysis is a vital practice for identifying vulnerabilities in an application because it involves reviewing the source code without executing the program. This method allows for the detection of potential security flaws, coding standards violations, and other issues early in the development process. By analyzing the code line by line, static code analysis tools can pinpoint weaknesses such as buffer overflows, injection flaws, and improper error handling.

Static code analysis is particularly effective because it can be integrated into the software development lifecycle, providing continuous feedback to developers. This proactive approach helps ensure that vulnerabilities are addressed before the application is deployed, ultimately leading to more secure software.

In contrast, hardware testing focuses on the physical components of systems, user acceptance testing assesses the application's functionality from the end-user's perspective, and network sniffing analyzes data packets traveling over a network but does not directly examine application vulnerabilities within the code itself.