Podevcast

Adam Tornhill: Your Code as a Crime Scene - Episode 194

Azure DevOps Podcast

Episode | Podcast

Date: Mon, 23 May 2022 08:00:00 +0000

Adam Tornhill is a programmer who combines degrees in engineering and psychology. He's the founder of CodeScene where he designs tools for software analysis. He’s also the author of Software Design X-Rays, the best-selling book Your Code as a Crime Scene, Lisp for the Web, and Patterns in C. Adam’s other interests include modern history, music, and martial arts. Topics of Discussion: [2:10] Adam talks about how he got his start in code metrics 25 years ago and why he’s discovered that it’s so hard to write good code. [3:48] What are the other book ideas Adam has to add to his existing four? [4:53] What motivated Adam to write Your Code as a Crime Scene and what is the premise? [9:02] When assembling the data, relevance, as well as quality, are both important. [10:29] Cyclomatic complexity is an old metric, as are many others, that is not quite tangible or relevant. [11:58] Why Adam prefers to look at code health vs. code quality. [13:26] The process is slightly different when looking at code health for existing code vs. writing new code. [15:23] How does CodeScene aid in the pull request process? [18:31] CodeScene integrates with your version control repository and work tracking tools to find where bugs were introduced. [22:22] Is CodeScene meant to be a standalone tool or can it work alongside many of the other tools on the market? [24:57] Adam’s rules of thumb for those getting started in software systems. [28:12] Why Adam’s preferred method of delivering software architecture has changed over the years. [30:36] What are the steps for implementing CodeScene into a codebase? Mentioned in this Episode: <a href="http://architecttips.clearmeasure.com/"> Architect Tips</a> — New video podcast! <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-ca/services/devops/?&OCID=AID736756_SEM_7eul5uID"> Azure DevOps</a> <a href="https://www.clear-measure.com/">Clear Measure</a> (Sponsor) <a href="https://www.amazon.com/NET-DevOps-Azure-Developers-Architecture/dp/1484253426"> .NET DevOps for Azure: A Developer’s Guide to DevOps Architecture the Right Way, by Jeffrey Palermo</a> — Available on Amazon! <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-ROXy08zc-qTA0-3GAQDLw"> Jeffrey Palermo’s YouTube</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffreypalermo?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor"> Jeffrey Palermo’s Twitter</a> — Follow to stay informed about future events! <a href="https://codescene.com/community-edition">CodeScene — Free Community Edition</a> <a href="https://github.com/adamtornhill">Adam Tornhill on Github</a> <a href="https://pragprog.com/titles/atevol/software-design-x-rays/"> Software Design X-Rays</a> <a href="https://pragprog.com/titles/atcrime/your-code-as-a-crime-scene/"> Your Code as a Crime Scene</a> <a href="https://www.adamtornhill.com/articles/lispweb.htm"> Lisp for the Web</a> <a href="https://www.adamtornhill.com/articles/patternsinc/patternsincnew.htm"> Patterns in C</a> <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.04374">“Code Red: The Business Impact of Code Quality”</a> Want to Learn More? Visit <a href="http://azuredevopspodcast.clear-measure.com/">AzureDevOps.Show</a> for show notes and additional episodes. Quotes: <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“Software development and software code, in particular, are very abstract. There’s no way I can really take a software system and pull it out and turn it around and inspect it for flaws.” — Adam [6:34]</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“What I’m most interested in is trends; so are we moving in the right direction or the wrong direction?” — Adam [15:14]</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“My experience, from working with all of these companies, is that pull requests and code reviews, in general, are extremely valuable… but they also tend to become a bottleneck in practice.” — Adam [16:10]</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“A surprise is simply one of the most expensive things you can put into a software architecture.” — Adam [30:15]</li> <li style="font-weight: 400;">“While these mechanics are simple, information is only good when acted upon.” — Adam [31:20]</li> </ul> Adam: <a href="https://adamtornhill.com/">Website</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamTornhill">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-tornhill-71759b48/">LinkedIn</a>