App developers want better feedback during coding and debugging

The ability of developers to do their jobs effectively is crucial to delivering reliable apps on time. App development company Perfecto has released the results of a new survey which asked developers how they focus their resources.

Among the findings are that 50 percent of user interface and user experience developers want better feedback during the coding and debugging process. Less than 25 percent say they actually get the timely feedback they need.

It also finds that the average developer spends less than 50 percent of their time writing code. While high-performing dev teams do not spend any more or less time coding than their peers, they are focused on delivering against changing user requirements.

The best performing teams spend five to 10 percent less time on overhead tasks (admin, waste, etc), but five percent more time writing tests than mid-performing and low-performing teams.

The top teams release software to production 2-3 times per week, while low performers tend to release in large batches closer to once per quarter. High-performing teams are two times more likely to receive early UI feedback than mid-performance and low-performance teams.

The report's authors conclude:

Development teams that frequently deliver high quality user experiences focus on including performance and acceptance criteria in early planning cycles. They follow through with higher test coverage to improve feedback loops along their automated pipelines.

High-performing teams also waste less time, spending half as much time on overhead tasks and twice as much time writing tests than others. Effciently using minutes throughout the day translate into hours per week for each contributor to improve their app and process.

Despite only half of developers receive the feedback as early as they'd like, those who receive feedback on the user experience before code check-in are twice as likely to contribute code. Mature automated testing increases collaboration, confidence, and predictability in development.

You can find out more in the full report which is available from the Perfecto website.

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