Development & Version Control

Development follows the agreed scope, design and technical specification — not whatever seems easiest in the moment. Code is written to agreed quality standards, reviewed internally before delivery, and aligned with the approved architecture and database design at every step.

• Development follows the agreed scope and design
• Code quality standards enforced from the first day
• Internal code review before client delivery
• Aligned to approved architecture and database design
• Security practices applied throughout (input validation, prepared statements, auth checks)
• No undocumented shortcuts or workarounds

A properly configured development environment that mirrors the production setup — so what works in development works in production. Local development, staging and production environments are configured before the first line of application code is written.

• Local development environment matching production
• Staging environment configured and accessible
• Environment-specific configuration management
• Database seeding and test data setup
• Development toolchain and linting configured
• Documented environment setup for future developers

Building one module at a time — completing it, testing it, and having it reviewed before starting the next. This approach keeps the project organised, makes progress visible and prevents the common failure mode of trying to build everything at once and finishing nothing properly.

• Module sequence and dependencies agreed upfront
• Each module completed before the next begins
• Module-level internal testing before client review
• Client demo of each completed module
• Feedback and adjustments incorporated before moving on
• Clear completion criteria for each module

A clean, well-structured Git repository is created at the start of the project — with a clear branching strategy, access control and commit conventions. The repository is hosted on GitHub, GitLab or your preferred platform, and access is granted to your team from day one.

• Repository created in client's own GitHub or GitLab account
• Branching strategy documented and followed
• Commit message conventions agreed
• Access control configured per team member
• Branch protection rules for main/production branch
• Repository structure documented in README

Every change to the codebase is committed to version control with a clear commit message — creating a complete, searchable history of every decision, every feature addition and every fix. This history is yours permanently and allows any version of the system to be reviewed or restored.

• All code changes committed to Git
• Meaningful commit messages describing each change
• Feature and fix branches properly merged
• Tags applied at each milestone release
• Version history accessible to your team at any time
• No changes made outside version control

Consistent, readable code that follows documented conventions — making the system easier to understand, extend and maintain by any developer in the future, not just the one who wrote it. Standards are applied from the first line and enforced through internal code review.

• Coding style and naming conventions documented
• Automated linting and formatting configured
• Internal code review before each delivery
• Security review checklist applied per module
• Inline code comments where logic is non-obvious
• API and function documentation maintained