A few years ago, I was working on a job for a client that centered around providing information to their end-users using dynamically presented video and then testing them for comprehension. It was a Joomla! site, and we had some initial conversations about how they wanted to quiz there users. Originally, we discussed a custom solution, however I knew that there had to be some sort of prebuilt extension on the Joomla! extension directory that would most likely satisfy their needs and found one. I encouraged them to try using that extension first and if it didn't work for their purposes then we could look into the development of a custom solution. In this post, we'll explore some benefits and ramifications of utilizing Joomla!'s extensibility.
Joomla Development Blog
When a project is well defined, Blue Bridge provides a fixed quote. This is very uncommon for developers working in the web development market. To date, I haven't came across anybody else that provides fixed quotes. I think some people think Blue Bridge provides a fixed quote in order to attach a larger profit margin to projects, however this is not the case. In the five years that we've been utilizing this rate structure, completing hundreds of projects, the hourly cost of our services has been under the quote less than five times. The reason we provide fixed quotes is because it's a useful constraint that forces us and our clients to make mutually benefiting decisions. In woodworking there's the concept of a jig: a tool that helps guide or constrain other tools. Fixed quotes are a jig we use for the projects we execute.
I often complain about how people don't understand the importance of code quality, but because it's difficult to explain I don't do a lot to illustrate what separates "good code" from "bad code". Plus, I suspect that nobody really cares. It's like hiring a mechanic: you want a mechanic that can fix your car but you don't really care to understand how they do it. As I was mulling this over this sunny May afternoon, it occurred to me that there actually several concepts relating to code quality that carry over into business development and personal productivity – something I think a lot of readers do care about. For example, complexity is a serious problem affecting code quality. In this post, I'll examine its effects and one way good developers address it in code (and how that might apply to your business or life.)
