Project managers, raise your hand if you’ve ever asked or been asked this question: How many lines of code have you created this month? For some reason, there is a belief that goes around non-programming circles that a good software developer can be judged by how many lines of code they can write at a time. But actual programmers know that this is largely untrue, and that the quality of the code is at least as important as the amount of code produced. If you think about it, though, it makes sense that this distinction can go overlooked; productivity is often measured by how many deliverables you have to show at the end of a given time period. So by that logic, the more code you produce, the more productive you have been, right? Not necessarily. When you are aiming for quantity over quality, you leave your program susceptible to bugs, sloppy structure, and poorly documented code. No matter how much time you may have saved by getting something coded quickly, a few bugs in the code can become incredibly costly when they aren’t caught early. Beyond that, dealing with unmaintainable code, or at least difficult to maintain code, can completely undo all that “productivity” from before. All code that is being used is considered as being maintained, whether this is a case of bugs getting fixed, or new code being properly added and documented. If the code is hard to understand or designed poorly, the cost (both in time and money) of maintenance goes up, and productivity tanks. The cost of a bug (defect) goes up the later it is found in a development cycle. Image courtesy of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Community (community.hpe.com). So what can you do to optimize your software quality (and productivity) the first time around? 1. Define Reasonable Requirements Based on Quality, not Quantity Having a clear set of requirements and deadlines based on the qualitative needs of the moment enables developers to work towards meeting achievable goals. And while the ideal endpoint is a complete, bug-free product that requires minimal maintenance, it’s just not realistic to use as a sole benchmark. Instead, goals that meet immediate needs are easier for developers to reach, and reduce the stress of trying to create some unattainable monolith. That isn’t to say that you need to lower your expectations. An under-performing product is no good, and while easier goals make for great stepping stones, figuring out which benchmarks are most important can take up a lot of time. Overall, the best advice is to define exactly what requirements you need to meet to have a functional product that falls within time constraints, budget, and the amount of resources available. A great first step is to publish simple quality metrics accessible to all members of the team. Having an open and uniform set of expectations will do wonders for software quality. By listing items such as the total allowable number of defects per phase or the basic functionalities required by certain deadlines, you can give developers a concrete visualization of where they are in terms of progress, and where they need to go. Having a clearly defined path, and a way to gauge where they are on that path can keep developers on target and productive. 2. Use Peer Reviews to Take Advantage of Resources You Already Have Peer review is when the author of a program and one or more of their colleagues sit down and examine the code in order to detect and correct any issues within. This method is often used in literature between writers and editors, and the principle is sound. A fresh pair of eyes will often catch mistakes that the author themselves would otherwise miss. Peer review is generally considered the cheapest, easiest method of early bug detection. It requires no additional hardware and gives developers a chance to practice their skills and help each other learn, which in turn can prevent similar mistakes in the future. This testing also happens very early in the development phase, meaning that bugs can be caught before they become expensive (and stressful) problems. Inspection is even faster than automated testing, as studies have shown that developers can find defects in code 3-4 times faster through inspections than can be found through testing. Worried that taking developers away from their own code to do reviews will reduce productivity? Don’t be. Inspections expert Tom Gilb reports that “each defect uncovered by peer review can save up to nine hours of work when compared to having to find and fix a defect later on in the cycle.” 3. Complement Reviews with Quality Testing Practices Skills essential for a good software tester. Image courtesy of Guru99.com. Although peer review is highly effective, it shouldn’t be the only process used to review software quality. System performance and UI usability can’t be determined by just looking at lines of code. Furthermore, there’s always a margin for human error, as even the most skilled editors miss errors on occasion. And while peer review often catches issues such as redundancy in the code, unclear error messages, and inadequate comments, software testing demonstrates the actual behavior of the code in the system. Testing puts your team in the seat of the user, giving them a whole new perspective on the quality of their software. The two aspects of software testing. Image courtesy of dotnetcurry.com. There are two major forms of software testing: automated and functional. Automated testing is when a tester uses a specified debugging program to run through the code. When the debugger is finished, it returns a list of the code sections that are passing or failing the checks. This method of testing is good for finding spots where code simply isn’t executing properly, and leaves the tester free to work on other projects while the test program is running. There are times, though, where automated testing can be fairly inefficient. For example, if one aspect of the code fails, the debugger usually immediately stops checking that section. If there is another error further down the line, it will be passed over until the initial defect is corrected. Functional testing, on the other hand, is when a person or group of people sit down with a working version of the software, and test individual aspects manually. This is where most system performance and user interface defects are identified, as developers get to see the software in action. Functional testing also serves to test the outcome of six essential criteria (source:Wikipedia): It verifies the functions that the software is expected to perform It creates input data based on the section of code that is being tested It determines the output of the section of code that is being tested It ensures that the test case executes correctly It demonstrates the difference between the actual output and the expected outputs It checks whether or not the application works as per the customer need Functional testing, of course, runs into similar concerns as those tied to peer review regarding time, resources, and developer involvement. Since it’s a manual form of testing, a human needs to be present to navigate through the software and to record errors, specifically what they were doing when the error occurred, and the steps required to recreate the error. While each of these suggestions is a powerful tool individually, the best way to improve your software quality is to use all three in tandem. Using these three methods of catching defects in your software will greatly improve its quality before it even gets passed to QA. — Next week, we will go more in depth on the various methods of peer review, so make sure to subscribe! ...read more
By Deep Core Data, LLC February 19, 2016
Starting a business for the first time is a daunting prospect. So many questions and problems arise, and it can be more than overwhelming to try and sort it all out. This week, we asked one of the biggest questions on every tech entrepreneur’s mind: What personal qualities do I need to start my own company? While there is no one answer to this question, we find that there are three factors that often go overlooked, but are nevertheless very important to building towards a future for your company. 1. Resilience in the face of instability One of the biggest reasons startups fail is because they run out of money. Entrepreneurs, especially those starting their first company, have big dreams and high hopes. This is a necessary trait of entrepreneurship, because without those dreams and enthusiasm, new businesses would never even get started. However, it’s easy to get caught up in the future and lose sight of the present, day to day needs of the company. In order to survive in the real world, it’s helpful to only set expectations that you can meet or beat. Needs will change and complications will arise. You need to be able to get through them without damaging your reliability. You may need to change your approach in order to make your goals, but this isn’t inherently a bad thing. Thinking outside of the box and showing clients that you can consistently and reliably solve their problems will build your brand name before you know it. And if you can’t meet a client’s need, there is no shame in admitting it. It’s a tough thing to do, but being open and honest about your capabilities inspires faith better than waiting until the last minute for things to fail. To that end, no founder is an island. Banging your head against something can only help so much. You don’t need to be able to perform every single operation in your company, or have every technical skill. Angel investor Brad McAllister (@BradsNewEra) recommends finding specialists and partners who can complement your skillset. “If an entrepreneur sees a gap in the technology market, but is not particularly "techy" he/she can always hire individuals that compensate for their weaknesses. As long as the founder has strengths that are necessary to launch and operate a business, he/she can launch a successful technology business.” By hiring skilled individuals, and using their abilities to fill the gaps in their time, entrepreneurs can keep themselves afloat. 2. The power of belief This may seem hokey, but it really is true that in order to achieve it, you must believe it. Surround yourself with people who actually believe in what you’re trying to do (and it’s important to note that believers are very different from yes-men). The odds may be stacked against you, and there will be people who will do their best to remind you of that fact. They may think that they’re being helpful by keeping your expectations low, but the problem is that surrounding yourself with such negativity is discouraging. Your failure becomes a self-fulling prophecy. Getting rid of the naysayers won’t magically lead to your success, but a strong support network and a positive attitude will make every endeavor that much easier. There are going to be setbacks and hardships, but these are simply a part of life. The important thing is being able to bounce back, and when you have people on your side to cheer you on, finding the motivation and strength to keep going isn’t such a daunting task. It’s also important to find the purpose in what you’re making. Address the problem you want to solve in the way you think is best, and put your heart behind it. When you truly believe in what you’re doing, other people will pick up on that fact and be drawn to your cause. “You have to have a clear idea of where you're going,” says entrepreneur and business coachBrett Fox, “and you have to be able to succinctly articulate your vision to your investors, customers, partners, and employees. No one will follow you if they don't buy into your vision.” Not everyone will have a need for your product or service, but those who don’t may know someone who does. By being genuine in your approach, you can cultivate a network of relationships with people who want to see you succeed. These people will recommend you to others, or offer advice when you are stuck and in need of support. One of humanity’s greatest strengths lies in our ability to help each other. 3. Listen, listen, listen When you’re selling a product or a service, it’s important to stay engaged with your customer from step one, not just to ensure their satisfaction, but to solicit feedback as well. Listen to this feedback, both for ways you can improve your existing product, and for other needs the client may have. You may have a very strong idea of what you want to build, and it can be tempting to tell your customers to just wait and see your final vision. But at the end of the day, your product is being made for the people who would use it, and they may have different ideas about what they need. This goes back to believing in what you’re doing. If you aren’t confident that you can find the right solution to the problem you want to solve, every piece of feedback will seem like a dent in your plans, not an opportunity to make things even better. Furthermore, not every piece of negative feedback is harmful. While it’s important to get the naysayers off your radar, constructive criticism can be vital to improving your product. This doesn’t just apply to fixing broken pieces, but to concepts and ideas as well. Sometimes, an idea just isn’t meant to fly, and the tighter you hold to your initial idea, the less opportunities your company will have. However, this doesn’t mean you need to let go of the core principles of your idea or turn the product into nothing but a mishmash of customer requests. Simply changing your approach can take your company in new directions that you didn’t originally plan on. Quinn Cully, CEO and Cofounder ofJowl, explains the importance of embracing change. “Don't fall in love with your product, expect and plan for a big change in the business model and the product itself, because there could be something amazing just around the corner and if you put the blinders on you will never see it.” Being flexible and willing to travel down these new, unexpected paths will keep your business afloat better than refusing to experiment and try new things. ----------------------------------------- We’ve only barely touched on some of the core qualities of a successful entrepreneur, and we’d love to hear what other qualities you believe are vital to launching your ideas. Tell us more about your past experiences below. What worked? What didn’t? What would you do differently? Comment and share! ...read more
By Deep Core Data, LLC February 12, 2016
Here at Deep Core Data, we deal with a lot of web applications: applications that corporations use to manage their data, their employees, their operations, their finances, and so on and so forth. One of the first questions we need to answer when we deploy these products is one we never worried about 10 years ago: Is this going on-premise or into the Cloud? Now a lot of people have defined the Cloud in a lot of different ways over the years, but for our purposes, there’s one main defining feature: the application can be accessed via the public Internet. That’s the major advantage of a Cloud implementation, allowing users at home or on the road to connect to the application without having to finagle a VPN into the corporate network. However, this is also the source of one of the major flaws of using the Cloud: security exposure. If the application has a security flaw, or a user’s credentials are compromised, an attack originating from anywhere on the planet can walk right in the front door. On-premise is the more traditional approach to applications. The data center (either physically on-premise or as part of the secured WAN) houses the machines that actually contain the application information, and data as a general rule never flows outside the organization (at least, not in an unencrypted form.) This is usually considerably more expensive in capital and manpower, but provides greater security in the sense that an outside attacker must first breach the company’s internal network before breaking into the application itself. Some vendors offer what they call a “Private Cloud” option, which is quite similar to an on-premise installation at an off-site data center. Cloud solutions are almost always cheaper and more flexible than an on-premise solution, but the economics for each individual business vary significantly. For instance, businesses that already maintain an on-premise data center will frequently prefer a solution hosted there rather than opening a cloud account, as they’re already paying the overhead costs and adding a single new server won’t significantly increase them. Overwhelmingly, though, businesses run some combination of on-premise and cloud services. Exactly where a particular application lives on their network depends more on the realities of the network infrastructure than cost or security considerations. For instance, a dashboarding tool that draws from an on-premise SAP system will almost certainly also have to be hosted locally, as opening the SAP system to a cloud provider (even under very controlled circumstances) can be a very dangerous proposition. Likewise, a Salesforce application that sales personnel are primarily accessing from their mobile devices far from their home office is most likely going to be in some kind of cloud application. Every time we roll out a web application to a client, we have this discussion. Ultimately, we can engineer solutions to put any application in just about any environment; choosing a location in the accessibility/security/cost space is the real issue. For both developers and clients, it is critical to understand the trade-offs, and how your decision will affect the success of your implementation. Don’t feel like you have jump right into the Cloud just because it seems everyone else is doing it. Take time to explore your options, evaluate the risks, and choose the setup that works for you. ...read more
By Deep Core Data, LLC August 20, 2015
Laptops are often the storage of personal and business information for the modern PC user. When data is compromised or lost, recovery of information can be a painful and costly process. Learning more about data recovery and understanding a few tips can help to avoid coming to the point of needing it. ...read more
Notebook computers are often harder to fix because of the size of the components and the compact design. In many cases, the problems can be resolved without requiring a technician. It is helpful to know how to diagnose and fix common problems. ...read more