This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Loreley
"There is no single question to what does best quality mean? However, one proven approach is comparing how well a given code interacts with its neighbors in the same technical domain."
In the world of software development, code quality often comes to mean a certain level of complexity in a code. The code that is too complex for users or developers to understand or use easily is considered low in quality. Sometimes this means that the code is too complex for even the programmers to understand.
In the rest of this article, we'll take a quick look at why it's crucial to understand code quality, what constitutes "quality" in the broadest sense and how to measure code quality using some of the best software.
What is code quality?
The core question arises what makes good code? Code quality refers to describing behaviors of code through descriptive names, concise comments, and style guides. A quality code meets the stated standards of coding when put into code quality check.
Why does code quality matter?
Security of software cannot be ignored:
High programming quality is crucial for all software teams today. And it is essential for those building security-critical applications. Professional code editors generally compile Security-critical code; these code quality tools do not allow for errors.
Additionally, great code will resist future attacks, which can give you the competitive edge you need. It helps improve coding quality in terms of code maintenance and reusability, which can also reduce engineering costs.
The usability and readability depends on code quality:
Quite simply, excellent code quality improves overall software quality because it compiles cleanly, consistently, and with minimal defects. Therefore, it will run the same way in any environment.
High-quality code carries Low Technical Debt:
It also tends to prevent technical debt, which can cause you to lose money if you have to hire a professional service to fix the problems. So it's essential to make sure your team practices high-quality coding.
How to Measure Code Quality?
The question on the minds of many experienced software developers is, "How can I improve my code quality?"
There are many different ways of measuring code quality. They range from traditional inspection of the code's structure to more modern methods like code translation or high-level languages like Java.
Code correctness and code readability:
In web development, code quality refers to two separate but related ideas: code correctness and code readability.
Good code quality ensures that clients can easily understand the code; low-quality code may lead to unexpected results, incorrect behavior, and security vulnerabilities. It is why comprehensive web code review and testing are essential for every web application development project.
Good quality code communicates every bit of its intent to developers and customers clearly and brings down the risk of misinterpretation and mistakes.
Code Reliability:
It's also imperative that it meets technical debt requirements. If you've spent weeks or months following a specific design, then you're well aware of how it interacts with existing code.
Code Re-usability:
It means that the same application can be used in different environments, and this will decrease program delays and technical debt.
Code Maintainability:
Maintainability measures how easily the application is changed and maintains the existing functionality.
How to improve code quality?
What is an efficient way to ensure that the code is working? One method is to make sure your developers are up to date on what's happening in the field, so they can provide input on ways to solve bugs. These software quality assurance best practices ensure consistency in maintaining better code throughout the project.
Another method is of improving code quality is to ensure that your team members understand the nature of the problems they are attempting to solve.
Finally, make sure your team members understand how to use the right tools and techniques to analyze code quality metrics and other tools to help them improve the quality of the code they write.
Moreover, make sure to include the following steps in your code improvement plan:
Routine Manual or automated code reviews:
While manual reviews are recommended for relatively simple projects, computerized devices can be beneficial in tackling more complex projects with a heavier debt burden. One approach developers often don't consider when they're building a web application is whether the complexity of the resulting application is reflected in the complexity of the coding base.
How Easily can New Features be added?
One of the biggest challenges facing developers today is adding new features to a project without adding code complexity. One solution developers face is not refactor code to maintain clarity, maintainability, and quality throughout the project.
It is often difficult to determine what code changes will have the most significant impact on maintainability when adding new features. Yet, it is often necessary to change the existing code to accommodate the new feature. While refactoring is possible, maintaining quality throughout the project is a real challenge.
Measuring Code Smells:
One of the biggest challenges facing developers today is the ability to measure code smells correctly. Code smells are described as "an accepted and expected code type or structure" that typically results from an implementation detail that falls outside the developers' understanding scope. Code smells can result from various factors, including code formatting errors, redundant code, overly broad inputs, and missing return values.
It is especially difficult to measure quality characteristics when the code is too complex. Code professionals who focus on code quality must first understand the nature of the problem and then invest the time to develop testing methods and techniques to detect code smells more reliably and consistently.
Code Quality Software:
Various softwares are available nowadays for code quality analysis, locating bugs and defects, communicating the changes, knowledge sharing, and code documentation. Most organizations are using them to understand the code quality standards before they release their software. They can also reduce the time spent maintaining high-quality software.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Loreley
Loreley | Sciencx (2021-10-15T12:35:18+00:00) Code Quality Software That Makes A Difference!. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2021/10/15/code-quality-software-that-makes-a-difference/
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