Code As A Crime Scene: Fix Technical Debt with Behavioural Code Analysis

One day workshop
Adam Tornhill

Code As A Crime Scene: Fix Technical Debt with Behavioural Code Analysis

No dates are scheduled for this workshop. Let us know if you think we should organize it near you, or if you'd like to book it on premise in your organisation.


In this workshop you learn novel analysis techniques that support both technical and organizational decisions around your codebase. The techniques use data from the most underused informational source that we have in our industry: our version-control system. Combined with metaphors from forensic psychology you learn to analyze version-control data to:

  • Identify the code that’s most expensive to maintain amongst millions lines of code
  • Detect architectural decay and learn to control it
  • Analyse different architectures such as layers and microservices
  • Measure how multiple developers influence code quality and what you can do about it
  • Uncover the social side of your codebase and learn to use the data to guide on- and off-boarding

During the workshop you get access to CodeScene – a project analysis tool that automates the analyses – which we use for the practical exercises, and we also discuss open source alternatives where suitable. Participants are encouraged to take this opportunity to analyse their own codebase and get specific take-away information around their system.

Workshop style

Hands-on, bring your own laptop. The practical exercises use Git and CodeScene. Make sure you have a Git client and a Java run-time, version 8, installed on your laptop if you want to analyze your organizations private repositories.
Adam Tornhill

About Adam Tornhill

Adam Tornhill is a programmer who combines degrees in engineering and psychology. He's the founder of Empear where he designs tools for software analysis. He's also the author of Software Design X-Rays, Your Code as a Crime Scene, Lisp for the Web, and Patterns in C. Adam's other interests include modern history, music, and martial arts.

All workshops by Adam Tornhill

No dates are scheduled for this workshop. Let us know if you think we should organize it near you, or if you'd like to book it on premise in your organisation.


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