There are no two developers on the planet who write code the same way. Just as when writing a novel, everyone has their own style and will choose their words and composition based on their own experience and personality. Good developers however, like all good students of language, study the constructs of their idiom and perfect the craft of writing words well.

In software, we have some really fundamental principles for writing good object oriented, strongly decoupled and reusable code. We use design patters to structure our code, and adhere to strict naming conventions. None of this means much to someone outside our domain, but it matters to us. The comparison between words in a book and the words used to write an app starts to diverge strongly when you realise that an app is likely to be extended and enhanced continuously during its lifetime. This is the maintenance part of software development. If you’re going to give an app to another developer one day, even if it is a new person from the same company that previously worked on the app, then adherence to the conventions makes it much easier for that person to step in and start coding. Sometimes it doesn’t, because you can have an app that works, does everything it needs to do, and never needs to be updated – but this doesn’t happen often. So it makes sense to write code that can be easily maintained.

When you build a house, you build on a strong foundation. Software is the same on this regard. Most modern programming languages and frameworks have strict guidelines for defining data models, business rules and the way user screens are setup. Beyond maintenance, there are myriad other consequences to not following the guidelines, everything from crashes to lost data to security holes that leave sensitive personal or financial information vulnerable. Even if your app is ‘perfect’ one day, there isn’t any guarantee that the next operating system version or patch that comes along won’t break everything, so it pays to be in the best position possible to jump in and get it fixed, which comes back to the idea of writing good code.

A good senior developer is trained to write good code, and to review and assist their peers in their own advancement. They have many years experience turning the principles they learned at university into deep practical understanding, of researching new trends and learning new skills. So a good senior developer is very well equipped to review code written by another developer, withholding their own personal style, and recognise without prejudice the methods used by another.

Our developers can provide a thorough and detailed analysis of your application, and we can work with you to understand how this may impact your situation. Mixed or negative reviews will likely result in a conversation to resurrect or rebuild. A positive code review may allow us to get started immediately on extending your application, in which case you may wish to learn more about how we work with the section why we are agile, or if you’re ready to go then let’s get started!

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