UK MSDN Flash Poll: How did your software team score in the Joel Test?
It is 9 years since Joel Spolsky created “The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code”. I thought it fitting to make a poll around it for the August 12th edition of the UK Flash (and a big thanks to @rammesses for the initial suggestion).
There is a little work required to complete the poll as you really should read the article by Joel – but for simplicity, below are the 12 questions. The test is still valid if you are a team of one. Please, do remember the words of Joel (with my highlighting):
“I've come up with my own, highly irresponsible, sloppy test to rate the quality of a software team. The great part about it is that it takes about 3 minutes.”
The Joel Test
- Do you use source control?
- Can you make a build in one step?
- Do you make daily builds?
- Do you have a bug database?
- Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
- Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
- Do you have a spec?
- Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
- Do you use the best tools money can buy?
- Do you have testers?
- Do new candidates write code during their interview?
- Do you do hallway usability testing?
And once you have answered those questions, share with the rest of us how you scored.
P.S. When I graduated in 1989 I was lucky enough to join an awesome software company that scored at least 9 out of 12 on every project we worked on – and certainly a couple of the projects would have scored perfect 12s.