Software is more or less defined by the quality of its code. This affects the safety, security, and reliability of your codebase and therefore the operations of the software itself. That is why high code quality is so important for most development teams, especially those working in safety-critical systems.
Table of contents:
The Importance Of Code Quality What Are The Coding Standards? The Main Reasons For Coding Standards How We Define Code Quality Measuring Code Quality How to Improve Code Quality
Security IssuesThe Importance Of Code Quality
Within the software industry, there are certain coding standards that are needed for the successful implementation of any program. That’s because, in order to encourage growth, most organizations need software that works seamlessly. They can’t afford to be spending time looking for and fixing issues with software code.
However, ensuring the code quality is high and it remains that way is not an easy task. In fact, it requires almost constant monitoring and updating to ensure that code quality standards are upheld at every junction.
Hire on-demand dedicated developers of desired skill & experience.
What Are The Coding Standards?
Coding standards are the procedures define a particular programming language. They help to specify the style, methods, and procedures. These can be for various aspects of the program or those written in that language. These standards form an essential part of any software program.
They help to ensure that developers are all working on the project in a certain way and following guidelines that help them to stick to a clear plan. These standards, therefore, ensure consistency across coding projects. The aim of any coding project is to make sure that when it’s finished it looks like it’s been completed by one single coder or developer.
The Main Reasons For Coding Standards
It’s not just for simple consistency reasons that coding standards are implemented, however, If standards are not upheld, then there can be long- and short-term consequences. Here we will take a look at some of the main areas of concern.
Security Issues
If standards are not ensured, then code may be susceptible to attack from outside sources, or errors may occur due to a lack of coding quality.
Performance
Poor coding can have an adverse effect on the quality of the software product. This means that users will have a negative experience, and security and operational faults will be easy to see.
How We Define Code Quality
Good code quality is defined as a code that is clean and does what it has been designed to do. It should follow a consistent style and be easy to understand. It needs to be well documented and equally well tested. However, testing is not always enough by itself.
Because programmers are human, mistakes happen. That’s why manual testing is not always foolproof. In fact, coders are less than 50% efficient at finding bugs in their own code. So, no matter how well the code has been checked and tested, there may still be errors. This exposes the software to risk. That is why code quality testing is everybody’s responsibility.
Measuring Code Quality
There are five key factors used to measure code quality. The first is reliability. This measures the probability that your new system will run without failure over a specific period of operating time. You can use various analysis tools to qualify how many errors have been encountered.
Maintainability measures how easily the software can be maintained, relating to the size, consistency, and structure of the code being used. While there is no single metric to determine maintainability, there is a system of different warnings you can put in place.
Testability refers to the ease with which the software supports testing. The size and complexity of the software will affect this rating but it can be improved with further work.
The portability measures how well the software performs in different environments. Again, there are no specific code quality metrics but there are several key ways by which you can ensure your code is portable.
Lastly, the reusability of the code is also a factor and can be measured by a number of interdependencies.
Hire dedicated team for your next web development project.
How to Improve Code Quality
There are a number of key ways that you can improve the code quality. One is to use a coding standard that ensures consistency. You should also be careful to analyze and test code thoroughly before finishing your project. It is also necessary to follow coding best practice and take advantage of automated tools.
Improving code quality comes with a series of major advantages. Making sure that the code quality is good can enhance the efficiency of your project and reduce the risk of failure for your project. A good-quality code is also a simple one, meaning that the complexity levels are reduced and it’s easy to maintain. Overall, this all adds up to more successful and cost-efficient software and projects.
If you would like to know more about code quality or get some valuable help with your own projects to reduce cost and error possibilities, get in touch with a member of our team here at Perception System. Being a leading software development company, we can help you implement coding standards to make sure all your developers are working in sync.
We can also carry out testing and measuring to ensure that any work so far is free from bugs and set to work in the most efficient way possible. So, for better projects that work with a higher standard of code, we look forward to hearing from you.
