Refactoring and Unit Testing: The 'Flow Skills' of Premium Engineering Systems

As a software developer, you know that writing code is just one part of the development process. Ensuring that your code is of high quality, maintainable, and bug-free is just as important, if not more so. That's where refactoring and unit testing comes in.

Also as software development becomes increasingly complex, the importance of writing clean, efficient, and error-free code has never been greater. Two key practices that can help developers achieve this goal are refactoring and unit testing. These practices should never be planned and managed activities, that are needed to be added to the development process but are rather flow skills that are integrated into the very way that developers write and improve their code.

Refactoring involves making changes to code that do not affect its external behavior but instead focus on improving its internal structure, readability, and maintainability. This can include simplifying code, removing redundancies, and improving naming conventions, among other things. Refactoring is an ongoing developer's work that can occur throughout the development cycle, as developers identify areas of the code that can be improved as he is working on any feature or bug.

Unit testing, on the other hand, involves writing automated tests that verify that individual units of code are working correctly. These tests are typically written by developers as they write main code [pre and/or post, the main code writing are fine], and are run automatically to ensure that changes to the code do not introduce new errors or bugs. Unit testing is a key practice in agile development, where it is used to ensure that code changes are made with confidence and speed.

Together, refactoring and unit testing can be seen as flow skills that are integrated into the very way that successful developers work. Rather than being seen as separate, planned activities, they are the engineering way of writing and improving code. By making refactoring and unit testing an integral part of the development ongoing work, developers can improve the quality of their code and reduce the time and effort required to fix errors or bugs.

It emphasizes the importance of continuous improvement and attention to detail. By taking this approach, developers can write code that is not just functional, but also reliable, maintainable, and easy to understand.

You can't avoid these flow skills seeing them as planned activities that you only do once in a while. Instead, they need to be part of your delivery thinking, part of the way you approach writing and improving code every day.

So how do you make refactoring and unit testing part of your development process? Here are a few tips:

• Start with cleanliness: When you see any shabby code, think about how tools and ways to refactor and test safely. Identify areas of the code that may need improvement, and think about the tests that will be needed to ensure that the code works as expected.
• Write tests as you go: Don't wait until you've finished writing code to start testing as ideas come. Write tests as you go, so that you can catch problems early on and fix them before they become bigger issues.
• Refactor as you go: Similarly, don't wait until you've written a lot of code before refactoring. Make small changes as you go, so that your code stays well-designed and easy to read.
• Use automation: There are many tools available that can help with refactoring and testing. Use these tools to automate as much of the process as possible, so that you can focus on writing great code.

As a CxO, you have the opportunity to lead by example and foster a culture of continuous improvement in your organization. This includes promoting the importance of refactoring and unit testing as essential skills for writing high-quality code. By highlighting the benefits of these practices, such as improving code quality, reducing the risk of errors and bugs, and ultimately saving time and money in the long run, you can encourage your employees to adopt these practices and embrace the engineering mindset.

One approach to encouraging this mindset is to provide them with association with #codedoctors to your employees. This can include workshops, timely code reviews, and audits from outside experts to provide guidance and support. By investing in your employees' professional development, you can empower them to improve their skills and make a positive impact on your organization's success.

In addition, you can foster a culture of collaboration and innovation by encouraging your employees to share their knowledge and ideas with out-of-the-box thinking external experts. This can include hosting code review sessions, encouraging pair programming, and providing opportunities for your employees to work on cross-functional teams. By promoting collaboration and knowledge-sharing, you can help your employees develop a strong engineering mindset and embrace best practices for writing high-quality code. Change is no more a friction, it just happens.

In conclusion, refactoring and unit testing are not just planned activities that occur after the code has been written - they are flow skills that should be integrated into the development process itself. By taking the engineering approach to writing code, developers can build software that is of the highest quality and that meets the needs of users and stakeholders alike.

As a CxO, if challenged with the current engineering mindset to embed such thinking with your employees, reach #CodeDoctors of TejaSoft, to treat engineers to get away from all of the rotten skills.