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Got a formal Coding Rules document? This really helps, especially if its well-written in a friendly tone. If you don't - well, be prepared for a bit of a bump
by fit2rule 8y ago
Got a formal Coding Rules document? This really helps, especially if its well-written in a friendly tone.
If you don't - well, be prepared for a bit of a bumpy ride until your group can formulate one. However, it has to be said that getting a formal Coding Rules guideline is easily one of the best things you can do for team cohesion - it takes effort, but at the end of the process it should be quite clear that you don't own the code...
- matt_the_bass 8y agoAnd automate listing of these rules!
- CyberFonic 8y agoThis response appears to have been down-voted. Perhaps that is a symptom that many programmers do not like following guidelines. Which in turn leads to technical anarchy.
- dasmoth 8y agoI think I'd probably phrase it as "many programmers like to feel some degree of ownership". See also: https://blog.codinghorror.com/you-gotta-own-it/ https://blog.codinghorror.com/you-gotta-own-it/
- protonimitate 8y agoFormalizing expectations is the best way to get everyone on board. My team relies on custom linting rules to act as that coding rules doc and builds the checks into the deployment pipeline so your build won't succeed if you have poorly formatted code. It doesn't catch everything, but it makes you more aware while writing code and gives a baseline minimum for standards. Also, there is a way to provide constructive feedback without attacking the person behind the keyboard or phrasing it as 'you're wrong, make it right'. The best reviewer on my team takes the time to point out where the 'big picture flaws' are, but phrases it in a way of 'this works, but here's why it won't work later on, and why you should consider fixing it now, just my 2c', rather than 'you're dumb if you think this is acceptable'.