Importance Of Code Quality In The Development Lifecycle

“Forget code quality, just move fast”. Never think or act like this as a SWE. It can ruin your whole career. You see, poor code isn’t speed. It’s a liability. Here’s what happens when you rush and cut corners: • 𝗖𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴 𝗢𝗻: If your PR is messy, reviewers will take forever to understand it or miss bugs entirely. That’s not moving fast. That’s creating bottlenecks. • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆: Quick fixes become time bombs. They might pass tests today, but tomorrow, they’ll blow up in production, leading to urgent firefighting and angry customers. • 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲: When you write bad code, the next time someone (maybe even future you) touches it, it’s hours of frustration just to figure out what’s going on. Now, let’s flip it. Writing high-quality code might take a bit longer upfront, but here’s what you get: • 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀: Clean, readable code gets approved quicker because teammates actually understand it. • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Well-written code rarely breaks, meaning you’re not pulled into emergencies every other day. • 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗢𝗻: Good code is like a solid foundation: adding new features becomes quick and painless. Example:  Imagine you’re building a feature with hacky code to “save time.” Now it’s live, and the next week, your manager asks you to add a small tweak. Suddenly, that tweak turns into a three-day refactor because you didn’t plan the structure properly. What you thought was fast actually cost you more time and stress. As a good software engineer, your goal isn’t just to ship code fast but to write code that’s easy for your team to maintain and extend. You’re not just building for today; you’re building for tomorrow too.

In late 2016, while at Microsoft, I wrote a piece of code that caused severe crashes across 8+ regions, reducing our Service Level Agreements (SLAs) significantly. Within 30 hours, our team had jumped into action and resolved the crisis. This is the story of one of my biggest career mistakes and what it taught me. It all started with a subtle error: a null pointer exception in a rarely used code path. I thought it wasn't urgent and even considered going on vacation. But as life would have it, another team made changes that increased the frequency of this problematic code path, leading to massive crashes in multiple regions and affecting our SLAs badly. I was in shock when I realized the magnitude of what had happened. My heart pounded, but I knew I couldn't freeze. I took ownership and immediately informed leadership. Initially, they thought I was joking, but soon realized the severity of the issue. I involved the Product Management team to communicate with impacted customers while I focused on finding a fix. Within 30-40 minutes, I had a solution. I tested it thoroughly, validated it in a test region, and gathered approvals for a hotfix. Within 30 hours, we rolled out the fix to all regions. This experience taught me: 1. High-Quality Code Is Non-Negotiable: Quality code and thorough testing are critical, especially at scale. 2. Ownership Earns Respect: Taking responsibility rather than deflecting blame is crucial in resolving issues. 3. Communication Is Key: Proactive communication with leadership and customers maintains trust. 4. Learn and Reflect: Reflecting on mistakes and learning from them is what makes us better. I survived one of my worst mistakes by owning, fixing, and growing. Mistakes happen, but it’s how we respond that defines us. What's your biggest mistake, and what did it teach you?

Bad code doesn’t show up overnight. It’s the result of a broken code review culture. It’s the result of months or years of speed over quality. And no, focusing on small things like, “Move this hardcoded string to a constant,” isn’t enough. Code reviews should be where growth happens: • Refactor for clarity. • Catch edge cases early. • Challenge design decisions. • Improve tests, not just add them. • Reinforce clean principles like DRY. When done right, code reviews improve not just the code but the entire team. Thoughts?