In recent years, cybercrime has become more sophisticated, professionalized, and personalized. And it is only headed to become graver. Small and large companies of all backgrounds are prone to threats which include but are not limited to malware, ransomware, and data breaches. Research shows that 37% of IT companies were targeted for ransomware in 2021 alone. Out of which only 8% of the data was recovered after the ransom payment.

The threat not only pertains to software, companies, and employees, but to other concerned parties too. Mitigating these threats should be the goal. While it may not be entirely possible, going forward, implementing the following practices can secure software development frameworks for businesses.

Zero Trust & Access Control

Zero-trust policies consider every individual who interacts with the software as a threat. It requires identity verification at every step to protect IT resources. It would be advisable for developers to implement the zero-trust architecture in the initial stages of the SDLC (software development lifecycle) to secure software applications from the source code up.

When targeting supply chains, attackers are heavily dependent on the trust present in the organization. Having to prove their identity at every step can help limit attacks.

Furthermore, attacks in a system do not always occur from outside the firewall. Limited access policies should be introduced where only the required permission is shared with individuals for them to complete a job.

Investing Adequately:

By far, the largest security threat that software faces is bad-quality code. Shifting Left is a practice that can avoid additional costs when the software has progressed into production. Moving left suggests that code be analyzed and vulnerabilities eliminated early in the process.

As it is considered expensive and time-consuming, the practice is still relatively more economical than when a product has moved into production. Research from Ponemon Institute suggests that it costs $80 to fix a software defect during development, whereas it costs $7,600 to fix during production.

Therefore, an initial investment of time, money, and resources in good quality code can help companies forego higher costs down the line.

Close-Coordination Work & Upskilling:

Decision-makers for businesses should work closely with the IT department to take security-driven initiatives. By keeping cybersecurity at the forefront, taking preventative measures with the input of IT professionals can create secure products and result in cost savings in the long run. Safety is at the center of all tasks and development, and future decisions revolve around it.

Improving the developers’ skill set can positively impact cybersecurity. By investing in the IT department through training, workshops, and classes, developers and engineers upskill and add further value to a business. Also, providing them with suitable resources can result in significant profit dividends.

SBOM goes public

Though the SBOM has been around for the past few years, its wide usage is predicted to begin soon. An SBOM (software bill of materials) requires the software development company to list all materials used in building the product.

SBOMs can help maintain security essentially by showcasing a software’s components. Companies can identify vulnerable access points and draw up security measures to avoid threats. Several federal agencies in the US have also shown support for SBOMs, making it a requirement for every software used by government agencies.

It is crucial to keep in mind that a single-step initiative will not solve a company’s cybersecurity; an entire step-by-step system needs to be put into place. Every organization has different security needs. It is crucial to identify the issues first and then create the best practices for secure software development.

The budget for cybersecurity is on the rise, not only in Canada but all over the world. Where the initial cost of secure coding practices may be high, it can make the bones of the software strong to withstand and counter cyberattacks at later stages.

All code is guilty until proven innocent.

Do you know that the cost of a defect increases by an order of magnitude for each consecutive stage of the software development cycle?

This means that discovering bugs earlier can significantly save money in terms of the effort of the technical teams and can lead to better ROI. Moreover, once issues are allowed to reach the production stage, they become more difficult to diagnose and solve.

In order to execute the project on time and within budget, preventing errors is better than fixing them. One great asset in identifying issues early on is a rigorous code review process. Code Review is the practice of systematically convening with one’s fellow programmers to check each other’s code for defects and has been shown to boost code quality and streamline the software development process. Moreover, it is also a great way to facilitate cross-training, mentoring, and learning among developers.

Coding Sans’s State of Software Development in 2018 report highlighted that 67.66% of software developers utilized peer code review to safeguard code quality. Additionally, that percentage is even higher among successful software developers; 73.53% of the top developers employ this practice. Despite its virtues, many people still often turn a blind eye to peer code reviews as they perceive performance testing to be adequate for validation. However, neglecting code reviewing can result in severe consequences for your project delivery.

So why are code reviews critical in executing software development smoothly? Here are four ways in which peer code reviews can add value to your IT project:

• Code Quality And Defect Detection
• Strong Collaboration And Knowledge Exchange
• Streamlined Testing and Development
• Enhanced Project Delivery

High Code Quality

Code reviews promise high quality as issues and errors are resolved before they skyrocket out of control. These inspections build quality into your process with excellent ROI and can reduce defects in your code by around 80%. Reviews also bring about consistency in meeting coding standards and project requirements. It improves the quality of code by concentrating on readability, maintainability, complexity, performance, and duplicated code.

Any discussion and collaboration on code will inherently improve readability. Also, a comprehensive review process will result in the style of code becoming similar in the team. This code standardization will provide for enhanced readability with superior support and maintenance. Developers also bring in their A-game and are more likely to write clean and concise code if they’re aware that their co-workers would be reviewing it.

Collaboration & Knowledge Exchange

All projects have unwritten rules and implicit understandings often referred to as “institutional” or “tribal” knowledge. Code review can facilitate the transfer of this knowledge from an expert professional to a new team member. This knowledge-sharing between team encourages internal learning and presents opportunities for mentoring junior team members. With the mentor directly reviewing his junior’s work but the junior developer examining the senior’s code, junior team members’ progress will be accelerated.

Collaboration between developers along with code standardization will bolster team productivity. This will reduce schedule delays if a team member is unavailable as any developer can take up the reins and continue steering the ship. Good reviews also encourage the development of T-shape professionals. These are individuals who are specialists in one area but have enough knowledge in the other domains to assist the continuous flow of the software development process.

Improved Testing & Development

Code reviews also take into account whether the code has well-designed automated tests or not. Moreover, optimizing code and consistently meeting standards will bear fruit in the form of a source code that is easier to understand for testers and specialists. Also, discovering bugs early on will help save time and money as there will be fewer delays in development due to further testing and revisions.

When the QA team gets involved in the code reviewing process, both the programming knowledge of quality analysts and the communication between teams will be improved significantly. Testers will know what part of the code defines a particular functionality of the project, therefore strengthening teamwork.

Effective Project Delivery

Every software project starts with a well-defined scope and requirements. There’s a high chance of a developer misinterpreting one of these requirements and creating a useless feature. An effective code review process will validate the developed feature against the expected one. This verifies developed features and guarantees that all misinterpretations associated with the project scope or requirements are addressed at the earliest.

Employing a consistent coding pattern and better documentation under code reviewing will make it convenient for developers to analyze existing code. This will help the project stay on track as developers will be spending more time adding features or upgrading existing ones. Also, this will benefit in the long run as well as it will be easier to onboard new developers to the project. Technical collaboration via code reviews also results in better estimates and project planning.

Conclusion

Overall, the peer code review process remains a critical stage in the software development lifecycle and can play a key role in enhancing the quality of code, team collaboration, and project delivery. When done right, it is a great tool to not only streamline development but also reduce the effort needed by the development team. Moreover, software testing alone has limited efficacy in defect detection. In his book, Code Complete, Steve McConnel reports that the average bug detection rate is 25% for unit testing, 35% for function testing, and 45% for integration testing. In comparison, design and code inspections have an average defect detection rate of 55% and 60%. These reviews are also crucial in establishing consistency in the source code and enabling superior testing and smoother integration. By mitigating errors, code reviews ensure the delivery of high-value solutions to clients on budget and time.

Are you feeling stressed out about your next tech interview?

A technical interview is a demanding and specialized process where candidates are tested on their coding and problem-solving skills as well as soft skills and personality. This can be quite a stressful experience for candidates, especially where whiteboard interviews are concerned. As an award-winning IT services provider, we want to share our expertise and offer guidance on how to shine in your next technical interview.

Smart practice

It is extremely important to research and practice common coding challenges and tech interview questions beforehand. Familiarity with the type of problems you are likely to encounter in the interview will help in improving your confidence in your knowledge. We recommend practicing coding without the help of a code editor. Also, consider timing yourself to get accustomed to the time pressure. Remember, creating a more realistic scenario makes the preparation more effective.

Don’t panic

In technical interviews, interviewers are not just evaluating how a candidate breaks down a problem but are also interested in analyzing how they debug a problem. So, if there is an error with your code, do not panic! Avoid thrashing the code in desperation and maintain your logical flow. Treat your mistake as an opportunity to impress the interviewer.

Communicate

While completing your coding challenges, it is recommended to communicate your thought process to the recruiters. Good Interviewers are not always looking for completely accurate solutions. Instead, they are more concerned with your critical thinking abilities and tech fundamentals. It is recommended to talk out loud while solving the problem to avoid losing out on the position due to a minor blunder. Remember most interviews are designed to test the basic requirement of a job. While recruiters will not try to pull additional information out of you, we encourage our candidates to share their expertise and knowledge organically in the interview.

Recruiters often write off good candidates by citing reasons like technical skills gap. Hence, candidates need to exhibit their technical expertise effectively. We hope these suggestions can assist job seekers in out-performing their next tech interview.

If you have any additional queries or are interested in collaborating, contact us now!