It is 9 years since Joel Spolsky created “The Joel Test: 12 Steps to Better Code”. I thought it fitting to make a poll around it for the August 12th edition of the UK Flash (and a big thanks to @rammesses for the initial suggestion).

There is a little work required to complete the poll as you really should read the article by Joel – but for simplicity, below are the 12 questions. The test is still valid if you are a team of one. Please, do remember the words of Joel (with my highlighting):

“I've come up with my own, highly irresponsible, sloppy test to rate the quality of a software team. The great part about it is that it takes about 3 minutes.”

The Joel Test

1. Do you use source control?
2. Can you make a build in one step?
3. Do you make daily builds?
4. Do you have a bug database?
5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
7. Do you have a spec?
8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?
10. Do you have testers?
11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?
12. Do you do hallway usability testing?

And once you have answered those questions, share with the rest of us how you scored.

P.S. When I graduated in 1989 I was lucky enough to join an awesome software company that scored at least 9 out of 12 on every project we worked on – and certainly a couple of the projects would have scored perfect 12s.