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Questions tagged [joel-test]

The Joel Test is a quick test to check the quality of a company that you work for - or one you are interviewing with.

This is a simple "yes/no" test to determine the stability and quality of a company. Joel himself thinks that you should only work for companies scoring 11 or 12 out of 12 points.

The original test includes the following 12 questions:

  • Do you use source control?
  • Can you make a build in one step?
  • Do you make daily builds?
  • Do you have a bug database?
  • Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
  • Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
  • Do you have a spec?
  • Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
  • Do you use the best tools money can buy?
  • Do you have testers?
  • Do new candidates write code during their interview?
  • Do you do hallway usability testing?
12 questions
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What do you think about the Joel Test?

The Joel Test is a well known test for determining how good your team is. What do you think about the points? Do you disagree with any of them? Is there anything that you would add?
Casebash
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Is it bad etiquette to ask a potential employer how they score on the Joel Test?

Developer interviews are different than most other places, because not only do you worry about the people you work with, benefits, job description, etc., you also have EXTRA to worry about after getting the job. Writing two application with exact…
Ryan Hayes
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How important are daily builds?

One of the criteria of the Joel Test is daily builds. The idea is that if the build is broken, whoever broke it is around to fix it up. If the build cannot be fixed, everyone will have to check out an old version and work on that. I can understand…
Casebash
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Can an agile shop really score 12 on the Joel Test?

I really like the Joel test, use it myself, and encourage my staff and interviewees to consider it carefully. However I don't think I can ever score more than 9 because a few points seem to contradict the Agile Manifesto, XP and TDD, which are the…
Simon
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How up-to-date is the Joel test?

I want to convince my partners that we should have a spec and that bugs should get fixed before writing new code. Should I refer to the Joel test? Do you think that the Joel test is up to date? I think that not having a spec is bad project…
Niklas Rosencrantz
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What are the pros and cons for the employer of code questions during an interview?

The Joel Test question #11 is: "Do new candidates write code during their interview?". What are arguments for and against to ask new candidates to write code during the interview and to make a decision upon it?
duros
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Is the Joel Test really a good gauging tool?

I just learned about the Joel Test. I have been computer programmer for 22 years, but somehow I never heard about it before. I consider my best job so far to be this small investment managing company with 30 employees and only three people in the IT…
henry
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Should Maven generate JAXB java code or just use Java code from source control?

We're trying to plan how to mash together a build server for our shiny new Java backend. We use a lot of JAXB XSD code generation and I was getting into a heated argument with whoever cared that the build server should: Delete JAXB created…
Peter Turner
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Does following Agile methodology contradict programmers should have quiet working conditions (one of the Joel test)?

My organization is moving to Agile process of software development. As part of it, the developers and quality engineers will sit together with the cubicle walls scaled down. I am just wondering how does it satisfy one of the Joel's test -…
R11G
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Applicability of the Joel Test to web development companies

QUESTION: How can you re-write the questions of the Joel test to apply to web developers? 1. Do you use source control? (source control for all aspects of your app, including configuration, database and user-based settings?) 2. Can you make a build…
dreftymac
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Can a shop score 12 on the Joel Test and yet be anything but Agile (or Lean)?

Inspired by this question - can an agile shop really score 12 on the Joel Test: Can you come up with explanations or examples where a software development organization satisfies technically all 12 points of the Joel Test, but fails to live up to the…
azheglov
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"Joel test" for B2B hardware/software developers

I discovered the Joel test recently and applied it to my team. However, I but found hard to apply some points to my company since we are developing small chips with both "wired" and programmable algorithm. 5: Do you fix bugs before writing new…
Simon Bergot
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