Successful Programming

I came across this list a professor with the University of Phoenix posted.  Pretty cool little test for any software firm.

Recently I have become a fan of Joel Spolsky, who worked at Microsoft for several years and has created a large collection of articles and thoughts about Best Software Practices, as well as the process of programming and design.  In one of his articles, he mentions the Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code:

  1. Do you use source control?
  2. Can you make a build in one step?
  3. Do you make daily builds?
  4. Do you have a bug database?
  5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
  6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
  7. Do you have a spec?
  8. Do programmers have quite working conditions?
  9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?
  10. Do you have testers?
  11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?
  12. Do you do hallway usability testing?

For each correct answer you get one point, most software companies, and development groups score between 2-4. His claim was that Microsoft's score was in the 10-12 range, and that it was one of the reasons MS is successful.

-Brent

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