Getting started with code reviewing: 5 checkpoints for your software

Have you ever thought about analysing how future-proof your software is? It’s well worth it! We can tell you, with 100% certainty, that there’s still a lot to improve in your code. A good way to see how you can optimise your IT solution is to conduct a code review. You get a second opinion on the existing software - and, always, some interesting results.

Two perspectives are better than one

As an external independent party, when we’re doing a code review we check the developed software on multiple points. Are there any mistakes in the code? Is the quality sufficient? Is the code scalable and future-proof? All these answers come to light by reviewing the code carefully. The result: a report with our findings and advice to improve your software. With this report you can go to your current software supplier; but, of course, we can also get started on fixing it for you. When reviewing code, we pay attention to the following 5 points:

Manageability & Future Proof

It’s important that software is easy to manage and that changes can be implemented quickly, without breaking other code. We look at how the code is set up, how old the code is and whether it needs to be replaced. We ensure that your technology is future-proof for at least the next five years.

• Security It is crucial that the IT environment is properly secured so that no outsiders can access it. The code must, therefore, be rock-solid. We test to see if we can make a few holes and crack into the code. If it works, we quickly close them before anyone else can get to them!

• Logic & Documentation Here, we investigate the extent to which other parties can work with your existing code base. Of course you want new developers to be able to get started with the code, whether or not this is because of the natural attrition of developers, or because you want to do business with a new IT supplier. In both cases, it’s important that the code is logically structured and well documented.

• Reliability & Stability Here we look at how the software is built and where there is room for improvement. Ultimately, you want a reliable system that stands firm. To ensure this, we take a closer look at the software, see where the weaknesses of the system are and how they can be solved.

• Architecture The architecture of your software is very important, and it ultimately determines whether or not your software is scalable. For example, how many systems are linked together? And where are the servers located? These are crucial questions which can optimise the speed and performance of your software.

When and why should I have a code review?

There are several reasons to have a code review performed. Ultimately, you want your IT system to be future-proof, so that the people who work with it can also work with it efficiently. For example, are you thinking about going to another supplier, but aren’t sure whether to rebuild or to keep part of the software? Code reviewing provides an answer. Even if you’re going to take a big step with your company, you need to know whether your software can grow with the number of users and meets all security requirements. Code reviewing can also be used as a mini-learning path for your internal development team, so that your team can get started straight away after the review. Are you being audited? You can also use an external code review report to demonstrate that your software is well-constructed.

Our approach

Our code review process is straightforward. We always start with an intake interview, in which we discuss your current software. What are you running and with whom? We’d like to hear why you want to have a code review performed and which elements you want to focus on. You then transfer all materials to us and we sign a non-disclosure agreement. Then, it's time to review! We analyse the code, but also the processes around it: for example, the code might look good, but your approach could be much more efficient. We can also check for you whether or not all software engineering processes meet the established standards: for example, which quality checks are completed before your software goes live. After this, it’s time to share our findings with you. We discuss our initial findings with you, so you can hear our main findings, and we then prepare a report with advice that we explain to you verbally. Then, the choice is yours! Will you have the improvements to the existing code implemented by your current supplier? Will you rebuild some or all of the code? Or will you put your internal development team to work? We are also, of course, very happy to help you with the implementation of software optimization ourselves - just let us know.