How slow build time hurts code quality

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/how_slow_build_time_hurts_code_quality.htm]

Every developer on a large-scale project has probably had to deal with slow compile times. For example, you change one line in a backend assembly, and you wait three whole minutes for the assembly to recompile. While I understand that there are some cases out there where this is just life (I've had smart people on enormous projects drool over the thought of "just" three minutes to compile), in general, this is very bad for application developers.

It's not just the three minutes lost waiting for the compiler. There are at least a few other big problems:

1. It constantly ruins your train of thought. Imagine a train that needs to stop at every station - it's not just the time stopped (i.e. compiling), it's also the time accelerating and decelerating (i.e. getting back in the groove). If Visual Studio is effectively frozen for over a minute because it's compiling, most devs will distract themselves with something else - and remain distracted even once Visual Studio finishes.
2. It discourages developers from writing unit tests. For example, in an ASP web project, you can compile just the single page you're one. So, rather than a developer putting code in a backend assembly (where you can test it), they'll put it in the codebehind (where you cannot test it) so that it compiles fast enough and they can move to the next thing (this example assumes no MVC).
3. It discourages developers from re-factoring. If even removing a dead comment will cost you several minutes, developers simply won't clean up "working" code.

 In other words, given human nature - slow compile times don't just slow you down, they degrade your code quality.

While sometimes the machine is just slow, there are a lot of tips and pointers out there to tweak Visual Studio to run faster:

• http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2006/09/22/Tip_2F00_Trick_3A00_-Optimizing-ASP.NET-2.0-Web-Project-Build-Performance-with-VS-2005.aspx
• http://dotnettipoftheday.org/tips/speedup_visual_studio.aspx
• http://dotnettipoftheday.org/tips/optimize_launch_of_vs2005.aspx

Another big thing is to split up your assemblies. If you have a 5MB assembly, changing one line will requiring building all 5MB. However if you split that up into five one-MB assemblies, changing a line requires building just that single assembly, sparing you from rebuilding the other 4MB. There's a balance between number vs. size of assemblies, but it's a good thing to keep in mind when dealing with slow build times.
 

How do you know when a project is screwed?

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/how_do_you_know_when_a_project_is_screwed.htm]

At the MSDN DevCon last month in Chicago, one of the groups in the community center had a very good discussion going - "How do you know when a project is screwed?"

 

A lot of good ideas floated around:

• There is no test code

• All code just has  "catch (Exception ex)" everywhere

• There is no source control - really some projects still just make zip file backups, not even using the free SVN.

• Reinventing basic framework methods

• Lack of team innovation

I think that team chemistry and discipline is also a very good indicator of project success. A team that hates each other will likely fail, even if they're all individual stars. So, I think another good indicator of failure is bad team chemistry.

 

This sort of thing is very-opened ended., I'm assuming that anyone who's been around long enough has seen a dying project, and there are a slew of different reasons.

Book: Working Effectively with Legacy Code

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/book_working_effectively_with_legacy_code.htm]

A while back I was working on some huge legacy security component. I found it quite challenging, especially the legacy code part of it. Afterwards I thought about writing a blog post on "tips for working with legacy code". While I never got around to that, I did recently finish reading Michael Feather's excellent book Working Effectively with Legacy Code. His book is infinitely better than any measly blog post I could have come up with.

 

This book is awesome. I encounter people who effectively (and naively) say "just write it perfectly the first time." However, that misses the point. For example, many devs weren't even around when the system was first written - they're inheriting someone else's code. The author tackles the problems head-on with concise examples and clear guidance. The book has three parts: the first part starts as a general overview and then explains why this is really a problem, the second part offers tons of practical ways to test difficult code, and the third part explains how to break dependencies so that the code is no longer so tightly-coupled.

 

Two main themes of the book are (A) you want to be able to somehow write unit tests for this code, and (B) tightly-coupled code makes that very difficult. For example, if you've got a some "Employee" object, and its constructor requires a live database connection, singleton references, external configs, and web HttpContext access (like session state), you're somewhat screwed. He then proceeds to show how to salvage that situation by making low-risk changes that allow you to pull the code into test harnesses.

 

You've got to love empathetic chapters like "it takes forever to make a change" and "I can't get this class into a test harness". I think this is a perfect book for anyone dealing with legacy code.

What if you're a big fish in a small pond - life without a mentor?

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/what_if_youre_a_big_fish_in_a_small_pond__life_without_a_m.htm]

In the ideal world, you'd work at a perfect company that surrounded you with wise mentors who could guide you past those insurmountable learning obstacles. Of course you'd work hard and take a stab at it first, but you'd know that an experienced guru would always be there to catch your back. But obviously, life isn't ideal, and many developers simply don't have that safety net of available mentors. Especially eager developers who work at small to mid-range companies might need to deal with being a big fish in a small pond. It's great that you can help your coworkers - but who is helping you? For example, I talk to a lot of guys in 5-person shops, and they're always the goto guy, always the one setting the path.

 

I hear it can get tiring. Here are some ideas to deal with it:

• Find others who are "bigger" - books, blogs, online forums, user groups. What's amazing about the internet (as opposed to 20 years ago), is that you can get access to all these brilliant minds out there.

• Leverage your coworkers niches. - Chances are, even with a 5 person team, the total-sum-knowledge of the entire team is greater than yours, i.e. someone there knows things that you don't. Maybe you're a star UI developer, but the DBA can teach you a few tricks. While this may not take you deeper in your own niche, it will help you spread out and be more well-rounded.

• Potentially leave your job - Sometimes you've out-grown your current job, and it may be time to "move on". For example, a lot of people go to industry leaders like Microsoft because they want that learning opportunities that a star company provides.

While it may provide a learning disadvantage to always be the one breaking-the ice, or drilling through rock to pave the path, there is an advantage. It forces you to pro-actively learn and demonstrate leadership skills, and a lot of companies (and life situations) value that sort of thing.

LCNUG: NHibernate

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/lcnug_nhibernate.htm]

Yesterday, Robert Dusek and Hudson Akridge of GFX presented on NHibernate, which is a powerful way to persist data. The meeting was a big success - we had our largest turnout - about 20 people. There was a lot of good dialogue both before and after the presentation. We also announced the progress on the new LCNUG website, including our flourishing job board (6 jobs from 3 different companies so far).

How to increase chances of being allowed to research

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/how_to_increase_chances_of_being_allowed_to_research.htm]

For any software project, there's always something new to research. Even if the flood of new technology suddenly freezes, most projects would still struggle just to catch up to the existing technology. While a lot of small to mid-size departments don't have dedicated research teams (or even tasks), here are some ideas to subtly incorporate research items into your schedule.

• Focus on small, concrete tasks that management cares about. A web app probably cares more about research JQuery or Silverlight than it cares about the WinForms DataGrid, or something ambiguous like "incorporating web best practices" (what does that practically mean?)

• Emphasize the low-hanging fruit with the highest return - Not all research tasks are equal. A SQL static code analyzer (which benefits everyone on the team) may be far more profitable than some crusade to make sure no-one uses Hungarian notation n C#.

• Piggyback off of existing assignments. If you're implementing an Aspx page, it may be the time to investigate Ajax, JQuery, or even something smaller like just JSON - you'd essentially have "the wind at your back". You could research an unrelated task, like hosting your  build process on virtual machines, but you'd be doing it all alone, without the support of your current assignments.

• Focus on just one or two things at a time. You could easily list 50 things to do - new technologies, tools, refactoring, open-source projects, controls to integrate, upgrading your framework, testing, automation, code generation, etc... If you juggle too much, it will all crash and you'll have nothing.

• Finish what you start; Actually deliver something - "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." For many departments, the thinking is it's better to have a weak solution that's completed (and hence usable - i.e you have something), than a powerful solution that's "still in progress" (and hence unusable - i.e. you have nothing.). The workplace is ablaze with buzzwords. Anyone can spew forth buzzwords or suggest grandiose visions, but at the end of the day - management cares about things that are actually done.

• Work incrementally - Management may initially not allot 4 weeks to research how Ajax benefits your web app, but you could spend a day here integrating it, a day there using an update panel, another day later pulling in the Ajax Control Toolkit. Yes, it's slower, but it's better than nothing.

• Establish a track record to "earn" bigger opportunities - As you gradually get research items actually completed, you'll become more credible, and will therefore probably be given more opportunity to research bigger tasks. For example, an unknown new-hire may be allowed to "explore" for a day, but a credible senior developer - who's already delivered many successful features - may be allowed to explore a research task for weeks.

Real Life: Taking the fridge door off

[This was originally posted at http://timstall.dotnetdevelopersjournal.com/real_life_taking_the_fridge_door_off.htm]

 To fix a normal squeaky door is relatively easy - just tap out the axle that joins the hinges, oil that, tap it back in, and... no more squeaky hinge. After the 20th such hinge, I got the hang of it. So, whenever my wife says the hallway doors are squeaking (translation: "please fix them"), I'm looking forward to an easy task. However, the other day she mentioned that the fridge door was squeaking. Now that was an issue. Taking off one hinge at a time for a hallway door is easy - but fridge doors aren't built like hallway doors, so you need to take the entire door off. Taking off the entire fridge door is hard (at least for me). But, alas, there was no other way. So, I got out the necessary tools, and took the entire fridge door off, oiled the door axle, and... it too stopped squeaking! The moral is that, just like in software development, people often need to take one step back before taking two steps forward. Maybe that means throwing away precious code, reading a long article instead of just jumping to a quick solution, writing a unit test harness, or something. The current problem might require you to "take the fridge door off".