Software Engineering

Is high quality software worth the cost?

Discover why high-quality software is cheaper and more efficient to produce.

Martin Fowler

May 29, 2019 • 13 min read

Intermediate

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Architecture

Code Review

Feedback and Learning

Organizational Learning

Refactoring For Design Agility

Summary

This article challenges the common belief that high software quality increases costs. It argues that maintaining high internal quality in software development actually reduces the cost of future changes by minimizing cruft, thus facilitating faster and cheaper feature additions. The piece is directed at both developers and business leaders, emphasizing the economic benefits of quality code. Engage with this insightful perspective to enhance your software development strategies.

Takeaways

High internal quality in software reduces long-term costs by facilitating easier and faster feature development.
Investing in quality software practices leads to economic benefits and increased productivity over time.
Maintaining a clear and modular codebase minimizes cruft, enhancing development speed and reducing errors.
It is cheaper to produce and maintain high quality software, developers spend less time fixing the internal code architecture as compared to poorly structured software that contains cruft.
The quality of software depends on the structure of the internal codebase than the interface.
Users and customers only see the external quality of software but cannot tell the difference between higher or lower internal quality software.