What is a code audit?

A code audit is a process of systematic review of an application or system's source code for maintainability issues. In other words, we look at your code and tell you what problems you have (and what to do about them).

Why would I want a code audit?

A code audit provides a second opinion about the quality of code. That second opinion can be valuable if you're a inheriting a code base, contracting out your software development, employing your own programmers, having trouble retaining programmers, or looking for evidence to support your cause.

What sorts of things do you look for?

We look for common software development problems which affect the maintainability of software. Maintainability has a lot of facets, but they all boil down to the ease with which your developers can fix bugs and add features to your software. The problems we look for include (but aren't limited to):

• Programming anti-patterns
• Architectural anti-patterns
• Project structure issues
• Development process issues
• Tooling issues
• Outdated development practices
• Brittle code
• Poorly-written code
• Overwhelming technical debt

What does the process look like?

You give us access to your source code and we evaluate it using a series of automated software tools and visual inspection (i.e., we read it). We evaluate it with regard to maintainability, architecture, and good software practices. Then we send you a report of our findings and recommendations. Optionally we can schedule a follow-up call or meeting to discuss the report.

Take a look at sample report to get an idea what the results look like.

What kinds of projects can you audit?

Pretty much anything in the modern Microsoft stack (the .NET Framework, .NET MAUI, Xamarin.Forms, ASP.NET, SQL Server, Windows Services, Windows Forms, WPF, and Silverlight). We're also familiar with client-side Javascript development, so we can audit web projects which make heavy use of Javascript frameworks (e.g., jQuery). Other platforms and languages may be an option depending on availability - ask and we'll see what we can do.

If you're not sure what your project uses, contact us and we can help you figure it out.

What makes you qualified to evaluate other people's code?

Your code reviewer is going to be a developer with more than two decades of experience in custom software development and consulting.

By custom software development and consulting, we mean working on dozens of different custom products and applications for many different software teams in many different companies and in many different industries over the course of their careers. We mean a wide variety of experience in different programming styles, architectures, development methodologies, team structures, and a lot of experience in coming up to speed quickly on new projects.

This means a person who has worked both on successful projects and (more importantly) failed projects; your reviewer will know both what works and what does not work in the practice of software development.

Can we hire you to fix the problems you find?

No. We want you to be 100% certain that we're giving you an objective review of your code. Which means that we can't have any stake in the outcome.

How much does it cost?

We charge a flat fee of $4,500.

How long does this take?

The turnaround time from when we have access to your source code until you receive the report is generally a few business days.