CodeSee this week launched an enterprise platform based on its codebase visualization and mapping tools that makes it easier for developers to navigate and learn how an application was developed.
CodeSee CEO Shanea Leven said this capability makes it simpler to understand how a codebase is constructed, including the application programming interfaces (APIs), without having to read each line of code. Organizations can use the CodeSee Enterprise platform to review code in addition to making it easier to add new developers to a project, she said.
The CodeSee Enterprise platform makes it possible to automatically detect, visualize and link to the code used to create every connection between the services that make up an application. That capability is especially useful for any security review of an application before or after an application is deployed.
A code automation feature codifies and automates the code knowledge that previously could only be passed from one developer to another, Leven noted.
It takes a significant amount of time for developers to pore over a codebase to understand where they might contribute. The larger a codebase is the more challenging it becomes to make meaningful contributions.
By definition, application development in the era of microservices is now a group effort. The days when a lone developer cared for an entire application are long over. The issue is finding a way for teams of developers to more easily collaborate when most of them may have never actually met in person.
The amount of focus on developer productivity has increased substantially since the start of COVID-19 pandemic spurred organizations to accelerate a wide range of digital business transformation initiatives. Developers are generally challenging to recruit and retain, especially individuals familiar with the latest cloud-native platforms for building and deploying applications. Making it possible for developers to more easily contribute to multiple application development projects has never been more critical.
Of course, most developers would rather spend more time writing code rather than studying it. The amount of time devoted to understanding codebases and maintaining development environments far exceeds the amount of time spent writing code. Many developers are not always going to be able to take advantage of advances in application development without the aid of a DevOps team to provision new tools and platforms.
One way or another, the rate at which applications are being developed and deployed needs to accelerate. An uncertain economic outlook is increasing the pressure on business leaders to digitally transform processes in a way that increases both revenue and profitability. The application experience is especially critical because customers are not inclined to patiently wait for organizations to finetune their digital processes over an extended amount of time.
Less clear, however, is the level of stress individual developers might be willing to tolerate. There’s no doubt most of them are sympathetic to the needs of the organizations that have hired them but that does not necessarily mean they’re willing to continuously work overtime to achieve goals that might not be attainable using the tools they have at hand.
