And what is your system of choice? Off the top of my head I would say that for a real one step web 'build' the following steps would have take place: Take a source snapshot Change any config files for release Compress CSS and JS Run Tests Take a database snapshot [without test data] Move the source to the server Import a clean, curren...
I'm going to start interviewing again over the next couple of months. I'm about three years out of school, got some good programming experience under my belt that I can boast about, and finally feel like I can call some of the shots. A question that has been bouncing around in my head for awhile is what are the best questions I should ...
Questions #1 through #4 on the Joel Test in my opinion are all about the development tools being used and the support system in place for developers: Do you use source control? Can you make a build in one step? Do you make daily builds? Do you have a bug database? I'm just curious what free/cheap (but good) tools exist for the sm...
We all know the Joel test. Joel had written it 8 years ago in August 2000. He wrote that most software companies ran with score between 2 and 3, which should have been quite scary for them. 8 years is a long time in software industry :). Two years ago friend of mine ask his friends [text is in Polish] about Joel test and published som...
In an effort to satisfy "The Joel Test" question #2 "Can you make a build in one step?", I'm trying to complete a release candidate build script with the creation of a CD iso from the collection of files gathered and generated by the installer creator. There seem to be many good tools (many free) out there that will create ISOs, but I n...
One of the items in the Joel Test is that a project/company should have a specification. I'm wondering what makes a spec good. Some companies will write volumes of useless specification that no one ever reads, others will not write anything down because "no one will read any of it anyway". So, what do you put into your spec? What is the...
I'm sure most of us know about the joel test by now. I've got an interview with a company that claims to score a 12 on the Joel test. I see it this way: if I were to put something on my resume, I would expect to be quizzed on it by my interviewer. Thus, I think that it's fair for me to verify that they implement all 12 portions of th...
As a programmer working in an insurance office, I have a nasty little management hierarchy which is making programming much harder. At current, our IT department rates a three on The Joel Test, which worries me. I'd like to fix this, but management enforces an insanely aggressive release schedule. Basically every project is due "yeste...
I was recently answering a question referring to the Joel Test and found that our company did not do well on some points (hallway usability testing and daily builds) but that these points for our company are relatively minor, while I agree that some points are an absolutely must (source control, bug database, interviewees writing code). ...
I find The Joel Test to be a nice, straightforward tool to diagnose a company. I just ran it on my company and we scored 5/12, its time to improve or we are out of business. I want to bring up The Joel Test on our next meeting with our boss, who has no programming experience. How do I best convince him that The Joel Test is a good stan...
Similar to: How do I convince my boss that The Joel Test is credible and should be followed? and possibly: Effective Ways to Introduce Agile into the Workplace? I'm intentionally asking this question anonymously. Summary: How can I improve the workplace? I'm about to accept a job offer for a company that has failed The Joel Test wi...
The Joel Test is a measure of how a team performs with regards to the best practices in coding. What questions, given a 'yes' answer, would subtract from the the Joel test score? (Assuming you don't simply negate the current questions on the 'Joel Test', ie: "Do you have no source control?") For example: Does the company insist on ...
I believe the Joel Test was written in 2000. It is time for an update to more align with modern times. I'll start: Do you use source control? changed to Do you have quality gates in place for each check-in? Many of the Joel Test assumptions are no longer true. I don't think we need to ask today if an organization uses source con...
The Joel Test is an excellent, simple metric for gauging software team quality (and potential pitfalls). But what if you are acting as an independent programmer, a MicroISV, or a one-person shop? Some aspects of the original test don't apply (hallway usability testing, interview questions), while other aspects are missing (things specifi...
Joel seems to think highly of daily builds. For a traditional compiled application I can certainly see his justification, but how does this parallel over to web development -- or does it not? A bit about the project I'm asking for -- There are 2 developers working on a Django (Python) web app. We have 1 svn repository. Each developer...
In my company (which scored 3/12 on the Joel Test) we have access to free software only, so I was wondering what, in the Java EE world, are the best tools money can buy? For instance, I was painfully debugging some HQL with p6spy when someone told me about hibernate profiler, which is really great and helpful. And I started to think "t...
The Joel Test sounds like a list of attributes I'd like to work with (and doesn't it for most of us?) But in a consulting context, it can vary a lot. I've been told it depends on the customer, which in some cases do not even have source control (egad!) Is it justified to turn down a consulting job on the basis of potentially low Joel Te...
I have seen mentions on SO of companies with low Joel Test Scores. Does anyone work (in a software developer role) for a company with a zero Joel Test Score? This excludes cases where you're the owner of the company :-) If so, what are your reasons for continuing to work for that company? ...
Hi, I read this and I was inspired. I am asking for specific help to achieve a 12 for my current project. I am working in a team of 3-4 on a php project that is based on cakephp. I only have a dedicated server running on linux which i intend to have the website live on and i have a plan with assembla where i am using its svn repositor...
I'm really, really impressed with Joel Test score: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000043.html. He defined a must-have list that any computer software should follow. It's great if your company scores 12/12, but it's more frequent that your company is missing somethings in that list (actually, my company seems to score 0/12 ...