Your codebase is a continuously evolving organism. However, it develops, not across its entire base at once. Instead, it changes unevenly here and there over time.
There are some engineers, however, that will take it upon themselves to clean and refine as they go, even if it’s not an essential task. If encouraged, this can actually help you keep your code base up to date and is an excellent pattern that, if possible, you should nurture.
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What Does a “Clean as You Go” Mentality Look Like?
If you’re curious about how to spot these engineers who clean the code as they work along, look for those who are constantly improving the code adjacent to the code, the engineer is working on.
Give Love to Fixing Work
While there’s more glory in completing feature work, “fixing” work must be appreciated and celebrated. However, often it’s much less visible. That’s because there isn’t a grand reveal as a sprint hits completion. That said, regularly fixing code while working on other related tasks can be invaluable.
If It’s Hard to Spot, How Do I Celebrate It?
Suppose you’re curious about how to spot this “cleaning” mentality. Look for engineers that are writing new code while simultaneously showing above-average levels of legacy refactoring. Seek out signs of engineers going above and beyond the expected scope of work of their assignments.
And, once you spot them, take a moment to appreciate how they’re seamlessly cleaning while not falling behind on expected deliverables.
I See it Now…What Should I Do?
When you see healthy habits in your engineers, the best thing to do is point them out publicly and during one-on-ones.
It’s important to mention the impressive nature of the engineer’s work publicly for two reasons:
- To give the engineer the accolades they deserve
- To give the rest of the team an aspirational nudge
By regularly pointing to this behavior of cleaning adjacent code (not just the first time you note it, but every time, or, at least, regularly), this consistent acknowledgment will tip other team members off to what habits you value.
Look for ways to formalize this work pattern across your team, and you can help keep code fresh across your codebase. For example, you may encourage the cleaner engineers to set up their work patterns via documented coding standards (i.e., following naming conventions).
By pointing out the cleaner’s work and approach, you’ll be helping to demonstrate to the team writ large how best practices can be developed and adhered to.
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