The focus is on stamping out bugs early in the development process.Stamping out bugs in applications is typically thought of as a process that happens as a development project nears completion, or even after it's already shipped. But HP is moving to to offer ways for developers to identify problems before they surface in working code.

The idea is that by squashing bugs and fixing security vulnerabilities early on, it's a less expensive and less complex undertaking. DevX takes a look at HP's new effort, which comes as rival IBM is ramping up its own offerings in securing enterprise software development.

Numerous security tools on the market today perform static analysis, penetration testing and security audits on application code that has already been written.

But what if you could stop vulnerabilities before they reach the code stage?
That's where a new service from HP (NYSE: HPQ) dubbed Comprehensive Applications Threat Analysis (CATA) may be able to help out application developers. CATA is an effort to provide an early life-cycle security assessment service that could help to prevent security vulnerabilities in application development.