Frequently Asked Questions about Code Offsets
Q: Why should I offset my bad code footprint?
A: Bad code arises for many reasons: lack of skill, insufficient time, abject neglect or poorly documented requirements for example. Bad Code Offsets are one step you can take to balance out the bad code that has gone before where you may not be in a position to provide a proper fix. Offsetting bad code also provides a salve to your conscience.
Q: Who is the Alliance and why should I trust them?
A: The Alliance is a group of committed software industry leaders dedicated to the furtherance of the development and application of high quality, bug free software through the use of code development best practices and tools. They have come together to address the current imbalance of bad code that has arisen over time and wish to provide an additional clean up mechanism, the Bad Code Offset, to accelerate the achievement of these worthy goals. Like you, we enjoy the software development process and wish that every developer around the world embrace software excellence and code offsets as the means for building a better tomorrow for us and our heirs.
Q: Where does my money go?
A: The proceeds from the sale of Bad Code Offsets are donated to various worthy Open Source initiatives that are carrying the fight against bad code on a daily basis. See our Projects page for a complete listing.
Q: What percentage actually goes towards open source projects?
A: 100%. Every dollar you spend on Bad Code Offsets goes directly towards the projects. The Alliance for Code Excellence pays for all of the overhead and expenses (payment fees, postage, material, etc.) out of pocket.
Q: Why should I worry about bad code?
A: Bad code is more than just a blot on one’s resume of professional accomplishments. At a minimum, bad code generates a legacy that follows each of us as a dark shadow or cloud of embarrassment reminding us of past failures. More importantly, though, bad code, lives on well past the time we inflicted those bad lines into the global code base. Applications continue to live their lives serving businesses, consumers and the global community at large. Bad code weakens the utility delivered by these applications causing business loss, user dissatisfaction, accidents, disasters and, in general, sucks limited resources towards responding to the after effects of bad code rather than toward the common good.
Q: What more can I do?
A: Purchased Bad Code Offsets is just the beginning. Learning and applying software development best practices is the next logical step towards building a better tomorrow.
Q: What more can my employer do?
A: Employers should examine all aspects of their software development and maintenance lifecycles and ensure that best practices are diligently applied. Of course, scrubbing the application portfolio of bad code would be ideal, in practice, the cost to the company might prove too great. Bad Code Offsets can be purchased in any denomination, even, larger amounts that would help a company offset years of bad practice for code left in place that might be currently untouchable.