Organizations understand the importance of code in today’s business landscape. We rely on software to power our daily lives — the global market is projected to grow to nearly $1.6 trillion within the next decade. Developers are feeling the pressure from this, with the increased push to write more code every day. However, this does not mean that the development of high-quality and error-free code should be sacrificed to meet the demands of increased software delivery.

Developers are increasingly using testing in the continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipeline to produce high-quality code. The problem is that these reviews aren’t always the right kind. The lack of proper reviews and analysis within the CI/CD pipeline pushes software to production that’s rooted in poor-quality code. That problematic code runs… but not on a solid foundation, and that’s not a good thing.

As developers reuse and build on that low-quality code, it perpetuates a vicious cycle. Teams waste time fixing original, recycled code snippets or, in some cases, push it through despite quality issues. All this exacerbates technical debt, an expensive and unsustainable problem for businesses to grapple with.

The solution to this involves not just frequent testing, but testing that ensures clean code. Writing consistent, adaptable, intentional and responsible code prevents new issues, reduces pain points, improves collaboration and leads to better software and strong business outcomes. Incorporating the right testing and analysis is a win-win.

Our reliance on software is directly tied to our reliance on coding. Machines operated by software are indifferent to the code’s quality as long as it operates smoothly. They don’t assess its clarity, security, or the ease with which developers can interpret and repurpose it later. To function, code does not necessarily need to be secure or well-written.

Code should meet more than just functional requirements, particularly as AI use increases. Studies indicate that nearly 36% of code generated by Copilot exhibits crucial vulnerabilities in various programming languages. For this reason, GitHub underscores the importance of developers ensuring the quality and security of code before its deployment.

Developers know that AI coding assistants can enhance their productivity and meet growing business needs. However, they often overlook maintaining quality. Despite incorporating unit testing into the CI/CD pipeline to evaluate AI-generated code, it remains a fact that unit testing only checks functionality, not quality.

Deploying software that has only been verified through unit tests might function adequately, but its inferior quality may trigger a cascade of long-term problems and revisions. Ensuring software functionality is simply not sufficient; preventing issues before they arise is essential to save on resources and avoid financial losses.

Developers are continually seeking methods to enhance productivity and leverage their existing resources to refine, augment, or initiate new projects. The accelerating demands of businesses compel these teams to deliver more swiftly, heightening the necessity for efficiency.

Yet, if the focus is not maintained on producing clean, secure, high-quality code, the repercussions may be enduring. The consequences might not be immediately apparent, but, over time, poor code systematically undermines software integrity. On average, developers spend 21+ hours a week debugging, refactoring, and correcting flawed code, cumulatively costing about $85 million annually on a global scale in lost opportunities. Low-quality code intensifies the time and costs involved in its rectification when initially utilized, and subsequently when reused in different projects.

Developer attrition further aggravates this issue: when developers transition to new roles, the code left behind may pose severe long-term issues, potentially years down the line. If no measures for maintaining sustainable code quality were set, it can become challenging to navigate through such legacy code.

When developers replicate substandard code, they essentially erode the software foundation of a business internally. Software underpins modern businesses, and flaws in it can jeopardize profits, reputation, and security. Given that the cost of poor software quality is estimated to be at least $2.4 trillion, neither developers nor businesses can afford to overlook the significant issues posed by problematic code.

Business outages, security issues, and poor application performance often originate from substandard code. In contrast, clean code enables developers and organizations to launch updates and implement software securely, knowing it rests on a sturdy foundation poised for enduring performance.

High-quality code offers advantages to developers by reducing the time and resources required for subsequent patching and refactoring. Confidence in the cleanliness of the code also improves teamwork, making it easier for developers to adopt and adapt code shared by peers or generated by AI. This not only streamlines their tasks but also diminishes the incidence of future corrections and mitigates technical debt.

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