How do you manage speed and quality in software development?

I've found that agile methodologies, like Scrum or Kanban, are invaluable. They allow for quick iterations and constant feedback, ensuring both speed and quality in my projects. By breaking down tasks and promoting consistent communication, I can swiftly address issues and refine our product. A helpful tip I can give is to regularly scheduling retrospectives can further enhance the process, enabling the team to reflect and continuously improve.

I use VS Code, a handy coding tool, and visit LeetCode, a website with lots of coding problems. I approach each challenge by carefully reading and understanding the problem, then making a plan for how to solve it. I write and test my code step by step, fixing any issues that pop up along the way. This way, I learn and get better at coding with each challenge I tackle.

In a fast-paced tech startup, a team adopted Agile, specifically Scrum, to create a mobile app in just six months. Initially, they faced challenges due to rigid planning but swiftly adjusted their approach. They prioritized user feedback, releasing smaller, functional app parts after each sprint. This flexible approach improved communication and teamwork, leading to a successful launch within the tight deadline. The story highlights Agile's adaptability and user-centricity, showcasing how it empowers teams to overcome hurdles, pivot when necessary, and deliver high-quality products that meet evolving needs.

Well in my opinion, the best methodology is the agile one using the CI/CD through out the life cycle always works off and combining task into multi-threaded application. But on the same time if you ask me for a quality is must and plus you add some of your user huge requirements in to the list then it will definitely going to be a messy application. What I use in this regard is the communication which is the so far best method to develop any application with communication you will have a fine product with quality standards and speed can be compromised sometimes to have a fine quality product.

The older methodologies like waterfall had a tremendous drawback with the deliverables, in most cases the inputs of the client can't be introduced into the pipeline unless the delivery is concluded first. The agile methodologies give us more freedom with respect to that and make life easier for both the project management team as well as the clients by segregating the big chunk of tasks into smaller ones which can be manageable and at the same time, the deliverables can be given in a frequent timeline like every 1 or 2 weeks of sprints and the feedback of the business team can be incorporated into the product in the next sprint. This whole process will contribute to creating the near-perfect deliverable lifecycle for the people involved.

I follow the mantra: "test early, test often, test just enough". I used TDD when developing a recent e-commerce checkout feature. I first wrote tests for elements like validating user inputs, calculating taxes and total costs, and integrating with payment APIs. Even though this was time-consuming upfront, it really sped up the coding process by reducing the amount of logical bugs and edge case errors. However, don't get bogged down attempting to test every single line of code (it may be unrealistic for some projects). Instead, identify the most critical pathways and potential pitfalls based on your user requirements.

Imagine this: You're about to build a complex feature for your software, and you decide to put on your testing hat first. ?? So, before start coding, write a series of tests that describe what code should do. It's like setting up checkpoints for success along our coding journey. ?? Then, you dive into coding, with your tests as your guiding stars. ?? Each piece of code you write is aimed at passing these tests. It's like putting together a puzzle where you already know what the final picture should look like. ?? And here's the magic: TDD helps we catch bugs and issues early, saving from those hair-pulling debugging sessions later on. It's like having a superhero shield against coding mishaps! ??♂???

TDD & CI/CD: Building for Tomorrow 1. Anticipating Interactions: TDD ensures new code doesn't disrupt existing features. It's a safeguard against future challenges. 2. Feature Confidence: With established tests, developers can modify confidently, reducing debugging time. 3. Seamless Integration: Pairing TDD with CI/CD ensures software isn't released until all tests pass, guaranteeing quality and fast delivery. Investing in TDD today means smoother development tomorrow.

TDD assumes that the solution is fully understood upfront. However, when speed and quality are critical, then it is better to do rapid prototyping and learn what works well and doesn't thru multiple iterations with QA. This is especially true when developing innovative products or non-deterministic solutions such as AI products. QA should be involved in the prototyping phase so that when it is time to move to production then production readiness testing will be very efficient. TDD is better only when the product problem and solution are well understand across teams.

In a software development company, a team adopted Test-Driven Development (TDD) to build a complex financial system. Initially met with skepticism, they persisted. Writing tests before code enabled them to catch errors early, resulting in cleaner, maintainable code. TDD also allowed them to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining existing functionality. This approach significantly reduced manual testing and debugging, saving time and resources. Ultimately, they delivered a robust system that met user expectations, demonstrating that TDD's discipline enhances code quality, fosters adaptability, and boosts confidence in the final product.

Quality shouldn't be a compromise in the name of speed. Although local builds while skipping tests are faster, it often might overlook bugs. Having a pipeline that enforces tests and code quality helps mitigate those. Additionally, when you have a dedicated test environment, you can quickly get your code up and running and have an integration test pipeline triggered too.

In a dynamic tech startup, a development team harnessed Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD) to revolutionize their e-commerce platform creation. They automated every development step, from coding to deployment. CI/CD swiftly uncovered a critical bug early in the project, averting potential disaster. Leveraging CI/CD, they implemented A/B testing, allowing real-time user feedback for optimization. The platform's seamless deployment upon launch was a testament to CI/CD's efficiency. This success highlighted how CI/CD accelerates development, identifies issues in advance, and encourages continuous experimentation. Ultimately, it enabled the team to deliver a high-quality product swiftly and reliably, meeting user needs effectively.

CI/CD can be a blessing and also a curse. Before touching your pipelines always consider whether the change will help or hinder the developers. With bloated jobs and petty rules you can greatly slow down development and make people miserable.

Pair programming is the spinal tap approach to code reviews. Kent Beck's vision for Extreme Programming was to take good practices and dial them up to 11! For code review that means instead of a review at the end, we review the code constantly whilst it's being written. Hence pair programming provides continuous review.

To ensure the speed and quality of the code, working in teams can be a good way to produce the required output. The readability of the code must be maintained so that other coworkers can seamlessly go through the code to find bugs and errors. ( Ex : Using appropriate variable names based on their application ). This helps developers to maintain their quality of the code and makes the debugging process easier.

Code reviews and pair programming, fam, they're like the ultimate tag team in software development! ???? So, with code reviews, it's like having your homies check your moves on the dance floor. ?? They spot any missteps, help you groove better, and ensure your code is top-notch. Plus, you get that fresh perspective, and it's like a jam session where ideas flow, and you come out with a killer track. ????

In my experience rubber duck debugging can also be applied to programming and planning, and it works just fine. Just by having someone you can explain your thought process to and saying things out lout forces you to organize things on the fly, so they have to at least sound meaningful. If something is hard or impossible to explain it is usually not the way to go.

Consistency in communication is key to maximizing the benefits of user testing and quality assurance. Setting a regular meeting cadence ensures that teams stay aligned and up-to-date with the latest test findings. These discussions are not just status updates. They are strategic sessions that pave the way for actionable solutions and allow teams to react swiftly to new information. During these meetings, assessing the severity and impact of each identified issue is essential. This helps prioritize which defects need immediate attention and which can be scheduled for future sprints. Here, plans of action form, whether that means developing additional testing scripts, introducing new functionalities, or making code adjustments.

Automation in testing can turbo charge your software development and delivery process. It'll also ensure coverage of all your flows always. Mind you there could be some initial investment here to get the automation setup, but largely post that its monitoring the results or adding new cases to improve your application.

Quality assurance and user testing are like our software's bodyguards and feedback squad. ???♂??? I remember when we were rushing to launch an app ????. We couldn't compromise on quality, so we brought in the QA team. They hunted down every bug like detectives! ??♀??? And then came the user testing phase. Real users tried our app, and their feedback was pure gold. It made our app fantastic. ?????? In the end, QA and user testing were our secret weapons for delivering both speed and quality. ????

One effective method for evaluating usability is through A/B Testing. If you work as a UX developer, it's crucial to consistently assess various user experiences. Collaborate within a team dedicated to conducting user studies to gain insights and create highly adoptable user journeys and experiences. By doing so, you'll be able to consistently deliver exceptional experiences that resonate with the majority of your customers.

You need to think about factors like scope, budget, deadlines, and project risk. Focus on optimizing elements that deliver high value or prevent defects. Remember to always compromise on "fun" features first before removing necessary ones.

One thing that can help us achive right balance between speed and quality is the concepts of Prototypes and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). Prototypes are usually a quick, often simplistic, version of the product designed to test a concept or process. Prototypes can be made quickly, but they may not work perfectly and may not be good enough for a product that can be sold in the market. On the other hand, an MVP is a more functional version of the product that contains only the essential features (agreed in advance with business) needed to meet the core needs of early adopters. A prototype allows us to get to market faster, which will give us early feedback, but an MVP is more complete and can serve as the first versions of a product.

Speed vs quality is often a false choice. If you bias towards speed at the expense of quality for too long, you’ll end up buried in a mountain of tech-debt and your team will get bogged down as they scramble to fix more and more critical bugs. Choosing speed in the short term almost always equates to slower development over the long term. The only time to choose speed over quality is when you’re not sure how useful the feature will actually be. Iterate quickly and if the feature starts to take off, go back and shore it up before things get out of hand. If it doesn’t hit, delete it and incur minimal lost time!

When feeling out a new direction or adding a new basic feature, speed is critical for the simple fact that many things just don't stick. Often the customer changes their mind, or you must change your approach in the next step. So best to discover the duds as soon as possible. But, once a freature passes this initial shakeout, speed and quality go hand in hand. Having quality code does increase velocity for bug fixes or adding the next feature down the road. It can be hard to attribute the 10 hours you save in a year to the 1 hour you spend today in refactoring. But over the long haul, doing it right is the fastest way there is.

Absolutely, striking the right balance between speed and quality is like walking a tightrope ??. In one of my recent projects, we had a tight deadline ??, and our client was eager to see results fast. ?? We had to make some tough decisions and trade-offs. We focused on the core features that were crucial for the initial launch, and we streamlined our development process. It felt a bit like a high-speed race ???, but we managed to meet the deadline. However, we also knew that we couldn't compromise too much on quality. So, we made sure to thoroughly test and validate those core features to ensure they were rock solid. ?? It's all about making smart choices and keeping that balance in check. ????

One of the most helpful things that worked for me was to build an internal library or re-use the third-party open-source library that is tested well over the time and can solve a specific problem. For example, we used Hangfire for background processing for so long that we faced every possible problem that can likely happen with it and we have solution to almost every situation. Overlapping job executions, using Redis, PostgreSQL or Azure SQL for job storage, Timezone specific triggers, and many more configuration or use case specific problems are already resolved. One of the best way to deliver quality code with maximum speed is to learn and build reusable code libraries out of your experience.

Use reliable tooling and prioritize Developer Experience (DX)! Managing dependencies and ensuring smooth operations can be daunting. However, there are tools for automating most aspects of project maintenance. It is crucial to prioritize DX using reliable language- and framework-agnostic tooling. Nx Devtools have been a game-changing tool for me. It streamlines maintenance tasks and helps enforce a uniform structure, allowing contributors to focus on delivering business value. It provides easy setup of reusable libraries, automatic dependency migration, code generation, and linting, giving complete flexibility for customization. Development efforts should never be compromised by issues that can be caught through automation or linters.