Software Quality? It’s a Cultural Thing – Bertrand Delacretaz
Asking developers about their views on software quality generates a combinatorial explosion of axes on which quality can be measured. Is it clean code? Performance? Testability? Modularity? Transparency? Software quality is an endless quest.
Some teams are known to be helpless when it comes to producing good software, while others, particularly in open organizations that bring different people together, consistently produce software of an extremely high quality. Is it a cultural thing, and if it is, how can we influence our teams quality culture?
Reflecting on the axes on which one can measure quality, and how they translate into software design and implementation, will help us ask the right questions when reviewing our software and when discussing software quality with our teams.
We won’t have all answers, mostly questions, but those will help!