Software developer professionalism, as defined by Uncle Bob Martin, requires openness when it comes to code. Openness, when it comes to software code, or systems implementations, provides many benefits to any company. Here are a few of which I am aware.
- It helps identify bugs MUCH earlier in the software development, or systems implementation lifecycles. Finding bugs earlier in the lifecycle has a huge impact on the overall cost. The reduction can be staggering.
- It mitigates the risk of exclusive knowledge. We all have those systems where an individual is not only an expert on specific applications or systems, they are the only individual who knows what is going on. This is not Job Security. This is corporate insanity.
- Multiple people working on the same code through partnering, or peer review, mitigate the risk of nefarious insertions into the code.
A culture of openness allows the entire team to “Own the Code.” Anyone with necessary skills may modify code to meet the necessary goals. In order to experience openness, you will probably have a number of adaptions to your processes and culture in order to make it work.
Although openness is not easy to achieve, it is well worth the effort.
Cheers,
Ben