Static code analysis is an preliminary White Box Test method performed by the development team, that is acheived by visually inspecting the code itself, without executing the program. In other words, its done by inspecting the code either in as a print out or in the IDE. 

It can sometimes catch subtle errors that other testing means won't -- but this is usually only because not enough other tests were designed.

In addition:

"Unfortunately, [static code analysis] has been eroding over the last years thereby rendering traditional static analysis methods even less effective. Since software is now routinely deployed as a collection of dynamically linked libraries, and more recently, also as Java bytecode that is delivered dynamically and on demand, static analysis in compilers and other programming tools knows less and less of the final executing program....
...dynamic analysis will play an increasingly important role to realize tasks that have become inefficient with static analysis alone."
Src:http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~mock/papers/woda03.pdf

Static code analysis is an preliminary White Box Test method performed by the development team, that is acheived by visually inspecting the code itself, without executing the program. In other words, its done by inspecting the code either in as a print out or in the IDE. 

It can sometimes catch subtle errors that other testing means won't -- but this is usually only because not enough other tests were designed.

In addition:

"Unfortunately, [static code analysis] has been eroding over the last years thereby rendering traditional static analysis methods even less effective. Since software is now routinely deployed as a collection of dynamically linked libraries, and more recently, also as Java bytecode that is delivered dynamically and on demand, static analysis in compilers and other programming tools knows less and less of the final executing program....
...dynamic analysis will play an increasingly important role to realize tasks that have become inefficient with static analysis alone."
Src:http://www.cs.pitt.edu/~mock/papers/woda03.pdf