- Clean As You Go in Software Development. Blog

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A codebase is continuously evolving by nature, but it doesn’t evolve evenly across all aspects. A clean as you go engineer will notice and refine shortcomings even if it’s not essential to the task at hand. This pattern of continually improving the code adjacent to the code the engineer is working on is a fantastic pattern to encourage, as long as it doesn’t overtake their work.

“Fixing” work certainly doesn’t get the attention that “feature” work does, in part because there’s rarely that “ta-da” moment. While the activity of regularly fixing existing code while working on other tasks can be much less visible and recognizable than working on new code, this engineer’s contribution is invaluable.

Recognizing the Clean As You Go Approach

How do you recognize a clean as you go engineer? Look for the following signs:

 - Project Timeline: You’ll notice engineers writing new code while also showing higher levels of legacy refactoring. Combined, this usually exceeds the expected scope of change for the assignment at hand.

Encouraging and Formalizing the Approach

Recognize this engineer’s work publicly and use it as a model for other team members to work towards. Regularly acknowledge this behavior in sprint retrospectives and standups, even after you first observe the pattern. Consistent acknowledgment lets everyone know you value this effort.

Encourage this engineer to formalize their work pattern with documented coding standards (e.g., naming conventions, getter/setters, preferred patterns for ORM work, etc.). A little bit of encouragement can go a long way to minimizing tech debt, and the engineers who clean as they go can help demonstrate how these best practices look.

Benefits of the Clean As You Go Approach

The clean as you go approach brings several benefits to the development process:

 - Reduced Technical Debt: Regularly refactoring and cleaning up code helps to minimize technical debt, making the codebase more maintainable and scalable.

 - Improved Code Quality: Continual improvements ensure that the code remains clean, readable, and follows best practices, leading to higher overall code quality.

 - Enhanced Team Morale: Recognizing and valuing the efforts of clean as you go engineers boosts team morale and encourages others to adopt similar practices.

 - Better Project Outcomes: A cleaner, more maintainable codebase contributes to smoother project progress and more reliable outcomes.

By fostering a culture that values and encourages the clean as you go approach, teams can enhance their development process, improve code quality, and achieve better project outcomes. Recognize and support the engineers who practice this approach, and use their efforts as a model to promote best practices across the team.