What is Code Quality? 5 Software Development Checks You Should be Automating

Product development is a delicate balancing act of delivering new features and investing in architecture and technology, all while trying to focus on building the right product.  Have you ever experienced one of these scenarios?

• It takes longer and longer to implement new features

• Confidence that the product will perform as expected decreases

• Onboarding new developers seems to take more and more time

These can be signs that a project could benefit from more of a focus on code quality.

What is Code Quality?

Code quality is the set of requirements that are common to all software projects.  Properties like readability, maintainability, modularity, performance, and security are all important aspects of software, whether in a social media app or financial clearing house software.

Automatable Code Quality

Many factors play into code quality: architecture, API design, coding style, library choice, and following coding best practices are just a few examples.  While some of these like architecture and design require human insight, others can be automated using code analysis tooling.  Tooling can be a great way to ensure uniform standards and incorporate analysis tools into the development process, and is an easy first step down the road of prioritizing quality.

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Here are 5 of the code quality factors that can be checked automatically:

1. Readability

In development, it is estimated that “the ratio of time spent reading versus writing is well over 10 to 1,” according to Robert C. Martin in Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. This makes readability of code a critical aspect of development productivity. Some aspects of readability, like variable naming, are very situational and even subjective.  But others can be automated.  Here are some examples of easy-to-automate checks that enhance readability:

• Avoid confusing language constructs

• Keep documentation consistent and (Read more...)