Managing Code Quality with Anne Cahalan

In this episode, Leo talks with Anne Cahalan about maintaining good code quality, helping your team, automation, and good code reviews.

Show Notes

Guest

• Anne Cahalan 
  • Twitter @northofnormal
  • Github northofnormal

Related Episodes

• Episode 36: Upgrading Your Skills in 2020 with Paul Hudson
• Episode 34: Server-Side Swift with Tim Condon
• Episode 24: Continuous Integration with Kyle Newsome 
• Episode 14: iOS App Architecture with René Cacheaux and Josh Berlin

Related Links

• Swift For Good - UI Design by Dave Delong
• Goodbye Clean Code by Dan Abramov

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What is Code Quality

• Making Code that's easy to maintain
• Low Cyclomatic Complexity
• Making your code easily testable
• Your code should read like sentences
• Avoid fancy short code for more wordy code
• Messy code is easier to fix then over-engineered code
• While the integration may be complex, keep your code separated into simple parts 

Why is Code Quality Important

• Saving Time = Saving Money
• Easy to Maintain and Easy to Update
• Shorter Onramp for New Developers
• Code Rots over Time (Delegation Patters vs Subscriber/Publisher Model)
• Addresses Tech Debt

When should you upgrade your code

• When it makes sense
• Use Interoperability (bridge headers, HostingControllers, ViewRepresentable, etc...) to slowly bridge the gap
• Be careful leaving too much old code behind

Good Swift Code Quality

• Use argument labels and parameter name correctly
• Avoid ternary operators
• Avoid switch statements with too much logic and cases
• Use Generics judiciously
• Extensions are great for separating Protocol implementation

Good Code Reviews and Pull Requests

• Clear your mind
• Use pull requests and templates
• Add context and details to the pull requests
• Use screen shots to show what the result is
• Communicate clearly what is going on
• Let them know what to look at and what is a work-in-progress

What Can Managers Do

• Set a great example 
• Provide enough time to the team for quality code
• Have some background and experience with quality code
• Be attentive and open to what your developers say
• Allow time for unit testing

Code Quality Tools

• SwiftLint and SwiftFormat
• Codecov - for code coverage
• CodeFactor and CodeClimate - for code quality
• Having a human look at code is always best
• Be thoughtful and considerate for each decision
• Leo's Swift Package Automated CI Template - WIP

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Credits

Music from https://filmmusic.io
"Blippy Trance" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Creators & Guests

Host

Leo Dion

Swift developer for Apple devices and more; Founder of BrightDigit; husband and father of 6 adorable kids

Guest

North of Normal

Cocktails and code.she/her

What is Empower Apps?

An exploration of Apple business news and technology. We talk about how businesses can use new technology to empower their business and employees, from Leo Dion, founder of BrightDigit.