Software Development Practices

Software Development Practices

1. Test-Driven Development

   • Write tests before the code and insure all code has a corresponding test
   • Make your code fail tests, make it work as simply as possible, refactor it
   • Benefits include: Imposing discipline, provide incremental specification, avoids regression errors, and facilitates confident changes
   • In Dynamic Verification we try to exercise the system to make it fail. ie unit testing and system testing
   • In Static Verification we use tools to examine the code without executing it
   • Refactoring is a key component and it helps prevent code smells by encouraging good desings
   • Identifies code smells

2. Code Smells

   • A code smell is a surface indication that usually corresponds to a deeper issue in the code and comes from technical debt (the amount of work you create when trying to save time upfront)
   • Types
     • Bloaters are clasified by their large classes, long methods, data clumps, and long parameter lists
     • OO Abusers are classified by their complex switch/if statements and their refused bequest
     • Change Preventers are classiified by their shotgun surgery (every time you make a small modificatin you have to make a change to many classes), and their divergent change (many changes to a single class)
     • Dispensables are classified by their duplicate code, lazy classes, and data classes
     • Couplers are classified by their feature envy, innapropriate intimacy, and middle man

3. Refactoring

   • Improving code without changing its functionality by keeping the code readable, understandable, and maintainable
   • Reasons for refactoring incldude: changing requirements, improving design, and reducing technical debt
   • Techniques include: renaming, extract method, extract clas, collapse heirarchy, consolidate conditional, and decompose conditional
   • Refactor when adding new features, fixing bugs or during code reviews not when the code is broken or the deadline is close
   • Addresses code smells