Sunday 7 June 2009

How about freezing new features and instead improve existing code quality?

Software has the tendency to get more and more features added over time. This leads to more bloat and newer bugs. Don't get me wrong, it's good to get new features as it makes a system more usable. Perhaps we should occasionally stop pushing in new code and instead focus on:

1) Fixing outstanding critical or high priority bugs
2) Remove unwanted or old crufty code
3) Optimize code for speed
4) Try to reduce unwanted bloat

It's a bit like going to one's doctor and getting a periodic heath check. We humans put on weight, get unfit and occasionally need to get back into trim before taking on new challenges in life. Maybe we need to do the same with our software...

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