A proper DevSecOps strategy includes the efforts and expertise of a variety of team members throughout multiple departments. The idea of “shifting left” is that you introduce security measures early in the development process, instead of waiting until the end to make a final check. However, shifting left can apply to more than just security measures.
Deploying your Salesforce development projects is the culmination of all your efforts up to that point.
Every security measure, every line of code, and every tested function will be put into motion—for better or for worse. And those who don’t take the time to ensure proper functionality of their lines of code will be punished with failed deployments and improper functionality within their update or application.
Code quality tools play a pivotal role in ensuring your deployments are executed exactly as they are planned. Constant visibility into your code health offers a range of benefits that supports a successful deployment and, ultimately, a satisfied end user.
Here’s how code quality tools improve your Salesforce deployments:
1. Early Bug Detection is Less Costly to Fix
Code quality tools like static code analysis offer the ability to learn the moment an error is introduced into your coding structure. Being aware of coding errors earlier in the process saves your team the time it would take to find the code later on and fix it.
Correcting coding errors becomes more difficult—and costly—the later they are found in the development pipeline.
In fact, the cost of fixing coding errors becomes exponentially more costly with each stage it moves through. Errors introduced in the design phase have a relative cost 50 times greater to fix when found during staging, and 150 times greater when found in production.
Utilizing code quality tools to find these errors earlier in the process increases overall ROI, while also supporting a successful deployment through the eradication of errors.
2. Streamlined Testing
Testing is an incredibly important aspect for most updates and applications. Smaller patches that don’t affect the functionality of the existing program might not need extensive testing before deployment, but everything else will need to be tested for bugs.
An absence of coding errors will make the testing process much faster and easier because of a massive reduction in issues found.
An optimized DevSecOps pipeline will allow projects to flow between the various phases without major hiccups. And while these hiccups can’t be entirely avoided, they can be reduced.
Code quality tools find errors so your team members can resolve them before they reach the testing phase of the development pipeline. This creates a much smoother situation that allows your tests to run cleanly without the need to alert team members to errors and bugs. And a faster testing period allows a project to move more quickly into deployment.
3. No Redundant Work for Team Members
Your DevSecOps team likely has a series of projects to work on. These projects are much more likely to reach their scheduled deployment goals when your team members don’t have to go back and redo tasks they have already completed.
Coding errors tend to compound if they are not found early in the process. They continue to create problems which will need to be rectified and replaced by your team members.
Your team can’t focus on moving a project through deployment if they have to go backwards and finish work they have already completed once before. Not only will this streamline the efforts of your team—allowing them to move forward through the current project and the following projects—but it also saves the operation in additional labor costs.
4. Strong Code is More Secure
Data security is a never-ending battle. Cybercriminals are constantly adjusting their methods and looking for new vulnerabilities in your system. Industries that deal with highly sensitive information like the healthcare and financial industries have a large amount of data they need to protect, but every business will have system information that can be attractive to hackers.
A secure deployment is essential when facing the increasing trend in cyberattacks, and error-free code is an essential aspect of a secure release.
Operational data, customer personal information, and financial information are all pervasive throughout Salesforce environments. Code quality tools reduce vulnerabilities and risks to support faster feature delivery.
This includes metadata as well. Salesforce metadata can compromise release quality, leading to downtime and exposure of sensitive or protected data. Code quality tools like CodeScan scan your metadata to keep your Salesforce orgs secure and clean.
5. Increases Success Rates
A failed deployment is not only costly and time-consuming, but it’s also demoralizing. Nobody likes to see hours of effort be proven fruitless. There are always ways to fix these failed deployments, but as we discussed earlier, that reduces the ROI on the project and occupies your team members.
Code quality tools drastically increase your likelihood of completing successful deployments.
These tools ensure high quality code that is error and bug free. Your end users are much less likely to experience any issues with functionality when the code that built the application is verified to be strong early in the process.
If deployment is the culmination of all your team’s efforts, code quality tools provide a confidence booster in the success of the project.
6. Higher Release Velocity
The ability to quickly and efficiently release Salesforce development projects translates into a better user experience and a higher potential for profitability. Code quality tools directly contribute to increased productivity in your team members and an ultimate higher release velocity for your Salesforce development program overall.
Error free code reduces the workload on your team members, streamlines testing, and results in faster and more frequent deployments of updates and applications.
Quick releases are only beneficial if they are also reliable. Finding errors and bugs during or after deployment can be costly. Code quality tools provide the stability and reliability you need to quickly move through the Salesforce DevSecOps pipeline to produce usable and beneficial services to your end users.
