Engineering Standards

The Code We Want at CBH Engineering

Ideal code:

[x] Does what it should (functional)
[x] Follows a consistent style (readable)
[x] Is easy to understand (modular)
[x] Has been well-documented (self-descriptive)
[x] Can be tested (testable)

At CBH, our goal is to:

[x] Find the shortest path to value
[x] Communicate our work and progress to stakeholders regularly
[x] Ship working code frequently

Any new project, starting from zero, should have 3 stages:

[x] Proof of Concept (PoC) - Make a minimum viable snippet, module or package that is stable and shows that the objective is achievable with the tools you chose
[x] Elaborate - Expand the PoC to be more flexible (configurable), powerful (additional tools) or more efficient (infrastructure and optimization) per the needs of the end-user
[x] Refactor as needed (rinse and repeat)
[x] At each of the 3 stages, there should almost always be a stable branch that can be used by stakeholders while you develop the next stage

High Quality And Fast

Contrary to the common wisdom, maintaining a high-quality bar and moving fast are not mutually exclusive.

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**Frank Slootman put this eloquently** :

When stepping up the pace, inevitably excuses are made about quality. We can’t possibly move this fast, and maintain quality? [sic] We would agree, because we are going to move faster and raise quality. It has a compound effect on productivity. It’s not defying gravity, it’s beating reams of slack out of the system. Until the pressure is on, we don’t even know how much better and faster we can be.

We recommend reading Frank’s original post in its entirety on LinkedIn. Slootman is always instructive.

Beyond the qualities of Curiosity, Initiative and Ownership we mentioned on the Values & Principles page, moving fast with high quality is our foundation, and it’s what we expect from every member of this team.

High Quality

Be an Owner
We Write a Lot
Communicate Proactively and Clearly
Do the Reading
Be Intellectually Honest
Marry Customer Conversations And Data
Be the Portfolio Manager

Fast

Solve Our Core Customer Problems, Quickly
Manage Time Well
Challenge; Disagree and Commit
Run Experiments, Scrappily Validate Hypotheses

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An Aside on Speed

We talk about “speed” a lot here. The first explanation that comes to mind is “we’re a startup, speed is all we have, it’s existential.” That’s true. But in our context, speed is even more significant. For us, this cultural focus on speed will reinforce our advantage against rivals in the marketplace for filling shifts. As we’ve discussed before, every shift request is a race against other vendors and that’s why we will continue to push on faster enrollment, faster booking, faster pay and, most importantly, moving faster internally.

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