OMG! This Codebase Sucks!

Sure, you know you need to clean up the lousy codebase that’s falling apart at the seams, but how are you going to figure out what to fix, how to fix it, who will fix it—and how you’ll get that done while meeting the other commitments of continuing to deliver new value to your customers?

This talk focuses on two aspects of dealing with technical debt: tools to help you figure out what’s in bad shape, and figuring out how to get the work done while continuing to ship.

To find out what to fix, will look at tools like NDepend, Visual Studio, Codeclimate, and metric-fu for hard-core metrics. We’ll walk through things like source code churn and defect rates to help you understand troublesome areas.

Armed with that information, we’ll talk about different ways to negotiate getting technical debt paid off while meeting your larger goals of continuing to ship value to your customers.

This talk won’t cover best practices (BECAUSE THERE AREN’T ANY) nor will it attempt to convince you there are simple fixes to an unhealthy codebase. What you WILL leave with are ideas on how you can approach creating a strategy for your current situation.

Updated a bit for my presentation at Canton Coders in January, 2022.

Transcript

1. OMG! THIS CODEBASE SUCKS!
2. SLIDES: SPEAKERDECK.COM/JIMHOLMES
3. Jim Holmes Jim.Holmes@ConstructConnect.com FrazzledDad.com
4. THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY BIT.LY/LEADERSHIPJOURNEY
9. FIX WHILE DELIVERING VALUE
10. THIS TALK’S GOAL:
11. GIVE YOU IDEAS
12. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! Should we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! Agree to fix Biz Goals Epics+Cost Backlog Items Working Stuff!
13. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! SHOULD WE FIX IT?
14. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: AGREEMENT CHANGE IS NEEDED
15. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! DOES FIXING IT BRING VALUE TO THE BUSINESS?
16. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ASSEMBLE THE ENTIRE TEAM TO ANSWER THIS
17. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! DEVS TESTERS PMS POS SUPPORT OPS USERS EXECS (BIZ, SPONSORS)
18. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! EVALUATE WHERE YOU’RE AT
19. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! HIGH LEVEL, NO CODE
20. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! LONG SHIP CYCLES
21. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! LATE TO TEST
22. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
23. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! STRESSED DEVS AND OPS
24. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
25. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ANGRY SUPPORT
26. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
27. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ANGRY CUSTOMERS
28. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
29. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! POOR SALES (OR NO SALES)
30. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
31. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ARE WE MEETING OUR MISSION?
32. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS E.G. ARE WE KEEPING THIS SYSTEM?
33. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: AGREEMENT CHANGE IS NEEDED
34. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! WHAT DO WE FIX?
35. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: PRIORITIZED GOALS EPICS/STORIES ESTIMATES
36. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! KEEP SHIPPING NEW VALUE
37. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! WEAVE FIXES IN TO DELIVERY
38. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! FOR FIXES: BUSINESS DRIVES THE GOALS
39. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! RISK--;
40. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ARE WE LOSING REVENUE? WILL WE GET SUED? ARE WE LOSING CUSTOMERS?
41. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! VALUE++;
42. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! SUPPORT COSTS ↓ SELL MORE! SHIP FEATURES FASTER!
43. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! TECH CHANGES MUST SUPPORT BUSINESS GOALS
44. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! EXAMPLE AREAS: CUSTOMER PROFILES VISIBLE INSTABLE BILLING SERVICE POOR RECOMMENDATIONS
45. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! WHAT’S THE CURRENT STATE? OPEN BUGS CLOSED BUGS HIGH SUPPORT COSTS
46. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! WHAT’S THE CODEBASE LIKE?
47. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! U+1F4A9
48. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
49. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! DEPENDENCIES
50. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! COMPLEXITY
51. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! SIZE OF CLASSES & METHODS
52. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CHURN
53. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! LOOK FOR OVERLAP
54. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! DRAFT UP EPICS
55. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! (DON’T DIVE IN TOO DEEP!)
56. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! MAKE ESTIMATES
57. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
58. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! NOW YOU’VE GOT A LIST • What • How big
59. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! PRIORITIZE NEW VALUE AND FIXES
60. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: PRIORITIZED GOALS EPICS/STORIES ESTIMATES
61. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! HOW DO WE FIX IT?
62. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: BACKLOG ITEMS
63. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! BUILD OUT WORK ITEMS
64. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! BE CLEAR ON WHAT AND WHY YOU’RE BUILDING STUFF
65. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
66. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! DOING THE TECH THING
67. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix!
68. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CHANGE HOW YOU WORK
69. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! IMPROVE READABILITY
70. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! ELIMINATE COMPLEXITIES
71. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CUT DEPENDENCIES
72. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! WORK AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE
73. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! SLICE VERY THINLY
74. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: BACKLOG ITEMS
75. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! FIX IT!
76. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: WORKING STUFF!
77. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CULTURE
78. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CULTURE
79. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CULTURE
80. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CONSTANT, HONEST COLLABORATION
81. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! FOLLOW NEW PATTERNS
82. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! PAIR UP
83. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! CODE REVIEWS
84. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! TESTING REALLY IS COOL. HONEST.
85. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! FIGURE OUT A BRANCH STRATEGY
86. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! MEASURE OUTCOMES NOT ACTIVITY
87. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! OUTPUT: WORKING STUFF!
88. Can we fix? What do we fix? How do we fix? Do the fix! Agree to fix Biz Goals Epics+Cost Backlog Items Working Stuff!
89. THANK YOU!
90. Jim Holmes Jim.Holmes@ConstructConnect.com FrazzledDad.com