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See how Gorilla Logic created a custom automated testing process and API automation solution for a consumer reporting agency in this case study.

<figure class="table"><table><thead><tr><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Client</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Industry</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Solution Provided</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:600px;">Technologies/Methodologies Used</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">Consumer Reporting Agency</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Consumer &amp; Retail</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Delivery Transformation</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Kotlin, Apache JMeter</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>The Challenge</h2>A background screening services provider needed an API automation framework to accelerate ongoing testing of its proprietary background check system. In addition to routine testing, the client was changing its software development lifecycle and wanted automated tests to detect issues early and ensure the stability and reliability of its API platform during the transition.The client partnered with Gorilla Logic to implement a testing solution capable of retrieving and transmitting information via GraphQL that would also minimize ongoing maintenance.<h2>The Solution</h2>Gorilla Logic evaluated numerous GraphQL API automation tools and determined that most required significant manual maintenance for schema updates. Instead, Gorilla Logic recommended building a custom testing solution, including:<ul><li>Capturing client testing needs and documenting user stories aligned to behavior-driven development (BDD) scenarios</li><li>Simplifying the process for API developers to add new test cases quickly by architecting and delivering a Kotlin-based testing framework for GraphQL APIs that automatically downloads server schemas</li><li>Enabling early feedback and quick detection and addressing of errors by integrating API testing into a CI/CD pipeline</li><li>Training client engineers in Kotlin and Apache JMeter through onsite workshops and documentation</li></ul><h2>Business Results</h2>Gorilla Logic’s QA automation solutions have yielded significant value for the client:<ul><li>Created a custom automated testing process and API automation solution</li><li>Completed automation tests for microservices and UI client</li><li>Established better product definition by contributing new user stories to BDD scenarios&nbsp;</li></ul>

Creating a custom automated testing process + API automation solution for a consumer reporting agency

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See how Gorilla Logic designed an API automation framework for an equity management company in this case study.

<figure class="table"><table><thead><tr><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Client</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Industry</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Solution Provided</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:600px;">Technologies/Methodologies Used</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">Equity Management Company</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Financial Services</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Delivery Transformation</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Cypress, Kubernetes, Azure Pipelines</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>The Challenge</h2>An equity management client faced challenges with ensuring the reliability and stability of its software throughout the development and testing lifecycle. Frequent user interface (UI) changes made test maintenance more time-consuming than building new test cases. Additionally, the client’s dynamic infrastructure disrupted testing environments and test data daily, forcing frequent recreation of test environments and data.The client desired an automation framework for UI testing to address these gaps, while also providing rapid insights into regression status.<h2>The Solution</h2>Gorilla Logic designed an API automation framework to validate API responses and status codes against predefined response schemas. As part of the engagement, Gorilla Logic:<ul><li>Automated business scenarios without the UI by using Cypress to invoke REST API calls</li><li>Provided modularity and scalability by isolating, independently managing, and executing &nbsp;each test case with its own test data</li><li>Enhanced test quality and execution times by migrating from a UI-centric test solution to an automated API-based solution</li><li>Reduced regression testing time by integrating the API-based solution into the CI/CD pipeline using Kubernetes pods within Azure Pipelines. Providing real-time feedback to developers during each code merge</li></ul><h2>Business Results</h2>Gorilla Logic’s QA automation solutions have yielded significant value for the client:<ul><li>Reduced testing time from 86 minutes to 36 minutes, producing faster development cycles and faster time-to-market for product updates</li><li>Reduced time for test data creation from 13.5 minutes to just 35 seconds with the implementation of the new API automation solution–a 95% time reduction</li><li>Identified and fixed defects related to core functionality in the APIs before deployment</li><li>Facilitated informed decision-making and timely identification of potential issues</li></ul>

Reducing test data creation time by 95% for an equity management company with API automation

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See how Gorilla Logic built a comprehensive QA solution and technology strategy for a vacation rental company in this case study.

<figure class="table"><table><thead><tr><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Client</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Industry</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Solution Provided</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:600px;">Technologies Used</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">Vacation Rental Company</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Travel &amp; Hospitality</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Delivery Transformation</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Node, TypeScript, Mocha, Chai, Allure reports</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>The Challenge</h2>A budding vacation rental client was growing quickly and needed to upgrade its software and infrastructure to keep pace with customer traffic. The client decided to migrate to the cloud for scalable infrastructure and services, but needed to avoid regressing issues during the migration.The client brought in Gorilla Logic to build a comprehensive QA solution and technology strategy, pairing comprehensive testing with code delivery to ensure QA testing processes are fast, repeatable, reliable, and easy to debug.<h2>The Solution</h2>Gorilla Logic created a comprehensive test plan and outlined test cases using existing documentation and an understanding of ongoing manual QA efforts. As part of the engagement, Gorilla Logic:<ul><li>Developed a new test automation framework using Node, TypeScript, Mocha, and Chai</li><li>Reduced test execution time by eliminating browser and WebDriver dependencies</li><li>Enhanced reporting by integrating Allure reports</li><li>Improved usability and readability of test outcomes by configuring Continuous Integration (CI) to communicate results via a team chat channel</li></ul><h2>Business Outcomes</h2>Gorilla Logic’s QA automation solutions have yielded significant value for the client:<ul><li>Achieved over 90% QA time savings by automating API testing</li><li>Reduced API test execution time by 25%</li><li>Improved test repeatability and consistency</li></ul>

Creating 90%+ QA time savings for a vacation rental company with custom QA solutions

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Learn how Gorilla Logic's holistic quality engineering reference architecture framework accelerates testing, enhances reliability, and aligns QA with business goals.

<h3>How a Holistic Framework Accelerates Testing, Enhances Reliability, and Aligns QA with Business Goals</h3>Effective quality assurance is crucial to delivering high-quality, reliable software in today’s dynamic landscape. At Gorilla Logic, we have developed a comprehensive&nbsp;Quality Engineering Reference Architecture that organizes our approach to quality assurance, ensuring a holistic and adaptable Quality Assurance (QA) program. This framework has evolved through years of partnership with clients across industries, enabling them to streamline testing processes, improve coverage, and meet their broader business objectives.The&nbsp;Quality Engineering Reference Architecture is built around seven key pillars:&nbsp;Governance &amp; Security,&nbsp;Test Planning,&nbsp;Tools &amp; Frameworks,&nbsp;Test Execution Platforms,&nbsp;Test Environment,&nbsp;Test Data, and&nbsp;QA Management. These components ensure that Quality Engineering (QE) is integrated seamlessly into the development lifecycle, supporting both manual and automated testing, and capable of scaling with business growth and technological advancements.<h3>Governance &amp; Security: Building Trust and Compliance</h3>At the foundation of our QA framework is&nbsp;Governance &amp; Security. This pillar ensures that all QA processes align with industry regulations and organizational security standards. Whether working in healthcare, finance, or other regulated sectors, we embed&nbsp;compliance monitoring,&nbsp;access controls, and&nbsp;audit trails into our QA activities. This not only guarantees compliance but also ensures that security is a core component of all testing efforts.For instance, many clients in highly regulated industries depend on this structured governance to avoid compliance risks. By implementing security protocols from the beginning, we help companies maintain trust and protect sensitive data throughout the software lifecycle.<h3>Test Planning: Strategizing for Comprehensive Coverage</h3>Test Planning is the foundation for creating a strategic roadmap that aligns testing efforts with product goals. It involves defining&nbsp;test levels—such as unit, integration, system, and acceptance testing—and prioritizing test cases to ensure that critical areas of the application receive thorough validation. This planning phase allows teams to anticipate potential risks and create a structured approach to testing that maximizes coverage.In complex projects, such as&nbsp;cloud migrations or large-scale system integrations, strategic test planning ensures that testing is not only comprehensive but also adaptable to changing conditions. For instance, a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gorillalogic.com/blog-and-resources/custom-qa-solutions-for-vacation-rental-company">vacation rental company</a> leveraged a detailed testing roadmap to reduce&nbsp;regression testing time by 50%, significantly accelerating their release cycles while ensuring that the migration was efficient and secure.By aligning the test plan with product development goals, we help clients manage their resources effectively and ensure that testing becomes an integral part of the software development lifecycle, rather than an afterthought.<h3>Tools &amp; Frameworks: Enabling Flexibility and Efficiency</h3>The&nbsp;Tools &amp; Frameworks pillar is about selecting the right testing tools and automation frameworks to optimize QE processes. Our framework supports flexibility by enabling both&nbsp;functional testing (such as unit and integration testing) and&nbsp;non-functional testing (such as performance and security testing). Whether testing APIs, web applications, or mobile platforms, our architecture ensures that the appropriate tools are integrated seamlessly.In highly competitive sectors like consumer electronics, where innovation and product iterations happen rapidly, automating repetitive tests using tools like JavaScript frameworks allows teams to increase testing speed while ensuring that critical areas of functionality are maintained. For example, one&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gorillalogic.com/blog-and-resources/case-study-enhacing-quality-with-qa-automation">global electronics client</a> reduced sanity testing time by&nbsp;66%, freeing up resources to focus on more complex exploratory testing.<h3>Test Execution Platforms: Bridging Automation and Manual Testing</h3>The&nbsp;Test Execution Platform ensures that both automated and manual tests are executed consistently across environments. By integrating testing into&nbsp;CI/CD pipelines, we enable continuous feedback loops that allow developers to identify and resolve defects early in the development process. This is particularly valuable in industries like financial services, where reliability and speed are critical for maintaining competitive advantage.For example, one&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://gorillalogic.com/blog-and-resources/api-automation-for-equity-management-company">equity management company</a> was able to reduce&nbsp;API test execution time by 25% by integrating automation within their CI/CD pipeline. This improvement helped them accelerate product releases while ensuring that critical functions were tested with high accuracy. Continuous testing, supported by robust execution platforms, is essential to maintaining quality while shortening release cycles.<h3>Test Environment: Ensuring Reliable Testing</h3>A stable and reliable&nbsp;Test Environment is key to ensuring that tests accurately reflect real-world conditions. Our QE framework emphasizes the importance of mirroring production environments to catch potential issues before they impact end-users. This pillar also involves provisioning and managing environments effectively, whether in cloud-based infrastructures or traditional data centers.In industries with complex infrastructures, such as telecommunications, creating and maintaining stable test environments helps ensure that testing results are reliable and consistent.<h3>Test Data: Supporting Accurate and Repeatable Tests</h3>Effective&nbsp;Test Data management is vital for ensuring accurate, repeatable testing. Our framework includes tools and practices for&nbsp;test data generation,&nbsp;anonymization, and&nbsp;sanitization, which are crucial in industries that handle sensitive information, such as finance. By maintaining clean and realistic test data, we help clients reduce errors and ensure that test outcomes are consistent across different scenarios.Managing test data effectively is not only about protecting sensitive information but also about ensuring that tests are reflective of real-world use cases, which drives more accurate results.<h3>QA Management: Driving Continuous Improvement</h3>The final pillar of our architecture,&nbsp;QA Management, ensures that testing efforts are continuously optimized. This includes monitoring defect rates, tracking testing capacity, and identifying areas for improvement in real-time. By focusing on continuous feedback and process refinement, we help our clients ensure that their QA strategies evolve with their development needs.Effective QA management ensures that quality assurance is not a static process, but one that adapts to new challenges and technologies, driving long-term efficiency and product quality.<img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/QE_Reference_Architecture_Graphic_a3a88a679c.png" alt="Gorilla Logic's Quality Engineering Reference Architecture Framework"><h2>A Holistic, Scalable QE Framework</h2>Gorilla Logic’s&nbsp;Quality Engineering Reference Architecture is more than a collection of tools and techniques—it is an organized framework that ensures a holistic, scalable approach to quality assurance. By focusing on governance, strategic planning, and the right balance between automation and manual testing, we provide clients with a flexible solution that aligns with their business goals and technological needs.From streamlining release cycles to improving test coverage, our architecture ensures that quality is at the heart of software development. Whether managing regulatory requirements, scaling infrastructure, or maintaining agility, our approach supports the high standards required for success in today’s competitive environment.

Delivering Scalable Quality with Gorilla Logic’s Quality Engineering Reference Architecture

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This is a post written by Gorilla Logic's client, PURE Property Management, which dives into what they've learned so far about AI for software development, as well as how they're using AI to reimagine their workflows and empower their teams.

As Gorilla Logic continues to explore the potential of AI in software development, we’re excited to see our clients making similar progress. PURE Property Management has been exploring how AI can enhance their software development process, and they've shared some great insights from their journey so far. Below is a recent post written by PURE’s Head of Technology, <a href="www.linkedin.com/in/aefidler">Ashley Fidler</a>, which dives into what they've learned so far and how they're using AI to reimagine their workflows and empower their teams. Check it out:&nbsp;We have been working on using AI in our software processes for about three months now at&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://rentpure.com/">PURE</a>. I wanted to give a more complete update on what we've learned, and where we are so far.The TL;DR - Our goal is to empower our team with AI, and ultimately reimagine our software development lifecycle (SDLC) in a more AI-first way (if the results warrant).So far, we have built a set of (publicly available)&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pure-pm.mo-assistant">VS Code plugins</a> that support coding, refactoring, unit tests, code reviewing and pull requests - it’s particularly good at testing. We’ve gotten a lot of initial benefit from this approach and are currently rolling it out across the team.We’ve focused on breaking down the SDLC to make our AI-use more modular and help the team understand how best to apply it. This seems to be an effective approach so far. Our next step is improving measurement/metrics so we can talk about results more concretely.<h2>What we've done - the details:</h2>To start, we wanted to make sure everyone on the team had an opportunity to try out ChatGPT and Claude (or other tools) officially. About half of our team had already used these tools individually as part of their development process, but a number of people hadn’t (or had only used Copilot). We got team subscriptions to both tools and gave all the developers Claude to start. The product team requested both Claude and ChatGPT so that they could compare.We then ran two projects in parallel: (1) investigating how to optimize our SDLC and (2) running a Hack Week to get initial outputs<h3>Optimizing our SDLC part 1: Framing &amp; Prototypes</h3>Based on experience with human crowdsourcing, we started from the hypothesis that we should break tasks down as much as possible. This makes it easier to get good results, and, importantly, to quality control work as it goes along.This led us to map our our SDLC and brainstorm each step and what we might be able to do to automate. We also released a couple of initial tools as a proof-of-concept, which are publicly available here:&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/purepm/mo-commit">Mo Commit</a> and Mo&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/purepm/mo-code-reviewer">Mo Code Reviewer</a>.<img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Software_Dev_Process_38682190b8.webp" alt="PURE Software Development Process"><h3>Hack Week</h3>Then, after everyone had the tools for a couple of weeks, we ran a hack week where people could come up with their own projects either using AI for development or adding AI features into our platform. Here are some of the projects that resulted:AI for Software<ul><li>AI-driven unit testing tool</li><li>AI-driven test refactoring tool</li><li>AI-driven component refactoring</li><li>prompt library for product specs and tickets</li></ul>AI for Product Features<ul><li>instant localization of our UI into multiple languages (Spanish, French, Russian)</li><li>natural-language custom report builder from our Postgres database</li><li>recommendation engine to match residents to properties</li><li>internal chat bot to answer property manager questions</li></ul><h3>Optimizing our SDLC, Part 2: Mo Coding Assistant</h3>Finally, we looked at everything we had learned during month 1 of this project and decided to bring it all together. This has resulted in our&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pure-pm.mo-assistant">Mo Coding Assistant</a> - VS Code plug-ins for all the major parts of our development processes. This work was done by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/felipe-mantilla-167850163/">Felipe Mantilla</a> and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinird/">Michael Rodriguez</a>.Overall, this tool works by providing specialized prompts to Claude, with code context, to support specific pieces of the SDLC. Here’s more detail about the key features:<ul><li>🤖&nbsp;AI-Powered Commit Messages: Generate meaningful commit messages automatically based on your code changes.</li></ul><img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Pure_2_1c80a24c3b.webp" alt="Pure 2.webp"><ul><li>🔧&nbsp;Intelligent Code Refactoring: Improve your code quality with AI-suggested refactoring.</li></ul><img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Pure_3_d56be5fddd.webp" alt="Pure 3.webp"><ul><li>🧪&nbsp;Comprehensive Unit Testing Support: Create, update, run, and validate unit tests with ease.</li></ul><img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Pure_4_564bf11185.webp" alt="Pure 4.webp"><ul><li>📚&nbsp;Context-Aware Assistance: Add files to the AI's context for more accurate and relevant responses.</li></ul><img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Pure_5_81ae1e741d.webp" alt="Pure 5.webp"><ul><li>🎨&nbsp;Interactive Webview Interface: Access all features through a user-friendly sidebar interface.</li></ul><img src="https://content.gorillalogic.com/strapi/Pure_6_ed98736eba.webp" alt="Pure 6.webp"><h3>Applications for Product</h3>At the same time, we also built out a v1 prompt library for product that handles spec creation and ticketing. This work was done by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyckane/">Kelly Kane</a>. We were able to write a mostly complete spec that needed some editing and turn it in to an epic full of Jira tickets that were able to be refined by the team. In our next version, we are planning to revise the prompts and directly plug them into Jira.<h2>What we’ve learned:</h2>Here are some key takeaways from our experiments so far:<ol><li>Breaking down the SDLC helped us be faster and more targeted. We knew exactly what problems we wanted to solve most and where we thought we could get value. Testing and refactoring have been pain points for us, so we started there and were able to make a lot of progress.</li><li>Centralizing tools and bringing in more context helps adoption. This is obvious, but it helped the team a lot when we brought everything into our dev ops world and provided the tools and training to use them. Everyone is using the tool now, whereas before, adoption of AI in general was variable in our team.</li><li>Human-AI interaction can improve code quality.&nbsp;For example, we set up Mo Code to write harder unit tests that focus on things that it thinks should work. This has, unexpectedly, actually led us to improve our features and catch errors and issues we might otherwise have missed.</li></ol>Next, PURE is working on measuring the impact of its coding assistant on team velocity. Ashley's next post about this project will cover this topic in depth. Subscribe to her newsletter <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ashleyfidler.com/">here</a>.

Client Highlight: A Progress Report on AI for Software Teams

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In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of good naming practices in software development, including code examples and naming conventions.

In our everyday lives, people often assign names to various things, such as other people, pets, vehicles, and more. These names are typically chosen based on personal preferences, geographical location, cultural heritage, trends, or simply because they sound amusing.&nbsp;Let's consider some examples:<ul><li>A father might name his child after himself as an expression of pride and a desire to continue a family tradition. Alternatively, if he is an avid sports fan, he might name the child "Cristiano Ronaldo" due to the popularity of the soccer player at that time.</li><li>When a new residential complex is being built, and one or more almond trees are on the land, the complex might be named "The Almond."</li><li>A family might adopt a pet and decide to give it a humorous or unusual name, such as "Bacon," "Chewbacca," or "Cupcake."</li></ul>While these choices are entirely valid in everyday life and reflect individual tastes and preferences, in the context of software development, we must adopt a more cautious approach. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of proper naming in software development, including code examples, best practices, and naming conventions.<h2>Naming Practices in Software Development</h2>Software developers constantly create and assign names to various elements, including projects, modules, classes, variables, methods, databases, tables, and columns. In this environment, choosing appropriate names is crucial because it impacts the readability, maintainability, and understanding of the software we create. Therefore, it is essential to embrace consistent and meaningful naming practices in software development.<h2>What Does Good Naming Mean in Software Development?</h2>According to Robert C. Martin’s book&nbsp;Clean Code, choosing a good name takes time but saves more time in the long run. The name of a variable, function, or class should address all significant questions; it should reveal why it exists, what its purpose is, and how it's utilized. If a name needs a comment, then it doesn't effectively reveal its intent.Choosing names that reveal intent makes it much easier to understand and modify code. For example, consider this piece of code from&nbsp;Clean Code:&nbsp;<pre><code class="language-plaintext">public List&lt;int[]&gt; getThem() {
	List&lt;int[]&gt; list1 = new ArrayList&lt;int[]&gt;(); 
	for (int[] x : theList) {
		if (x[0] == 4) list1.add(x);	
	}
		return list1; 
}</code></pre>What makes it challenging to discern the purpose of this code? There are no complex expressions, and the spacing and indentation appear reasonable. The code references only three variables and two constants, without any elaborate classes or polymorphic methods; it seems to consist solely of an array list. The issue here lies not in the code's simplicity but in its implicit nature. The context is not explicitly conveyed within the code itself.<h2>Why is Proper Nomenclature Important in Software Development?</h2>Following proper naming practices is essential to writing clean and maintainable code. Failing to do so can result in the following issues:<ol><li>Lack of clarity: Poorly named variables, functions, classes, or other code elements make it difficult to understand the code. If developers cannot easily determine the purpose or functionality of a component from its name, working with the code becomes challenging.</li><li>Misinterpretation: Ambiguous or misleading names can cause developers to misunderstand how a particular element works, potentially leading to bugs or incorrect behavior in the software.</li><li>Maintenance challenges: Poorly named code can be hard to maintain. When you or other developers revisit the code for updates or bug fixes, unclear or inconsistent names can slow down the process, increasing the likelihood of introducing new issues.</li><li>Communication breakdowns: Software development often involves team collaboration. Poor naming can hinder effective communication, as team members may need extra time to decipher code or ask for clarification.</li><li>Scalability issues: As software projects grow in size and complexity, proper naming becomes even more critical. Bad naming practices can accumulate over time, making scaling and extending the software increasingly difficult.</li><li>Maintainability costs: Fixing poor naming after the fact can be costly and time-consuming. This often involves refactoring code and updating documentation, which can affect other parts of the software.</li></ol>Here’s an example of code that uses bad variable names from the book&nbsp;Code Complete,&nbsp;2nd Edition by Steve McConnell:<pre><code class="language-plaintext">Java Example of Poor Variable Names

x = x - xx;
xxx = fido + SalesTax( fido ); x = x + LateFee( x1, x ) + xxx; x = x + Interest( x1, x );</code></pre>Now, let's look at an improved version of the same code that enhances readability and simplifies understanding, also from&nbsp;Code Complete,&nbsp;2nd Edition:<pre><code class="language-plaintext">Java Example of Good Variable Names

balance = balance - lastPayment;
monthlyTotal = newPurchases + SalesTax( newPurchases );
balance = balance + LateFee( customerID, balance ) + monthlyTotal; balance = balance + Interest( customerID, balance );</code></pre>In the second example, you realize the benefits of taking the time to give meaningful names to variables.<h2>Basic Principles of Creating Meaningful Names</h2><figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized" style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;"><colgroup><col style="width:50%;"><col style="width:50%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Principle</td><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Description</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Use intention-revealing names</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">The name of the variable, method, or class should explain why it exists, what it does, and how it’s used.</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Avoid disinformation</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Avoid poor or lazy naming. For example:&nbsp;var ro, looks like a good repair order, but it could be misinformative.</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Make meaningful distinctions</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Be careful not to use similar variable names in the same context. Ie. using&nbsp;RepairOrderInfo and&nbsp;RepairOrderData in the same&nbsp;RepairOrder object. A clear distinction must be made.</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Use pronounceable names</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Choose names that are easy to pronounce and understand when spoken.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Use searchable names</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Choose names for variables, functions, classes, and other code elements that are easy to search for within the codebase.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Member prefixes</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Prefixes provide clarity and indicate the scope of a variable, making it easier to understand its context.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Class names</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Classes and objects should have noun or noun phrase names like “Customer”; a class name should not be a verb.&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Method names</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Methods should have verb or verb phrase names like “postPayment”, “deletePage”, or “save”.</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Maintain language consistency</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">To maintain code clarity, avoid mixing languages when naming variables. Ensure that your variable names are consistently in the same language throughout the codebase (ie. all in English, or all in Spanish).&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Avoid being overly creative</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Cuteness in code can manifest through colloquialisms, slang, or overly clever names. For instance, refrain from giving a method an attention-grabbing name like "GodsHand(id)" for a simple deletion function.&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>Software Naming Conventions</h2>Remember that naming conventions can vary between programming languages and communities, so it's important to adapt to the specific guidelines relevant to your project or organization. Let's examine some commonly used delimiting conventions in code:<figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized" style="border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;"><colgroup><col style="width:22.09%;"><col style="width:56.97%;"><col style="width:20.94%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Convention Name</td><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;text-align:center;">Description</td><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);border-style:solid;">Example</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Snakecase</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Words are delimited by an underscore.</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">first_name&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Pascalcase</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Words are delimited by capital letters.</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">FirstName&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Camelcase</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Words are delimited by capital letters, except the initial word.</td><td style="border:1pt solid #000000;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">firstName&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>When naming variables, two fundamental principles to keep in mind are consistency and readability. It's crucial to maintain a consistent approach to naming conventions across your codebase. Consistency enhances your code's readability and ensures that others can better understand it.<h2>The Anecdote</h2>Utilizing proper naming practices can help you avoid uncomfortable situations with your team members. Here’s an anecdote from my early university years when I collaborated on a project with a fellow student. This event took place during a testing and brainstorming session.&nbsp;My colleague reached out to inform me that he had found a solution to the problem we were tackling. He created a method named&nbsp;Versi(...).My initial question was about the meaning behind&nbsp;Versi(...). His response was straightforward yet clever:&nbsp;"Ver si funciona" ("Let’s see if it works").&nbsp;It brought a smile to our faces in that moment. However, the lack of a solid foundation for naming variables or methods was common practice during the first year of university…just think about how often we encountered the variable x in code.<h2>Summary</h2>In summary, poor naming in software can have a cascading impact on various aspects of the development process, from initial coding to long-term maintenance. Good naming practices are essential for creating clean, understandable, and maintainable code. Before construction begins, spell out the programming conventions to be used.<h3>References</h3><ul><li>Martin, R. C. (2008). Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Prentice Hall.</li><li>McConnell, S. (2004). Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction (2nd ed.). Microsoft Press.</li><li>Cornell, C. (2022, March 20). Challenges in Naming Things in Software and Data Engineering. Chris Cornell the Dataist.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://medium.com/@chris.cornell.the.dataist/challenges-in-naming-things-in-software-and-data-engineering-1fa65b6521b9">URL</a></li><li>Jain, A. (2021, Jan 25). Naming Conventions 101 for developers.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://medium.com/swlh/naming-conventions-101-for-developers-8997bb96fd60">URL</a></li><li>Microsoft Corporation. (2021). .NET Framework Design Guidelines: Naming Guidelines.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/design-guidelines/general-naming-conventions">URL</a></li></ul>

Good Naming Practices in Software Development

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Polco partnered with Gorilla Logic to boost engagement and improve user experience through digital product development and consulting services. 

<figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:16.49%;"><col style="width:17.93%;"><col style="width:32.9%;"><col style="width:32.68%;"></colgroup><thead><tr><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Client</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Industry</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:200px;">Solution Provided</th><th style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);width:600px;">Technologies Used</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td style="vertical-align:top;">Polco</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Civic Technology</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">Boosting engagement and improving user experience through digital product development and consulting services.</td><td style="vertical-align:top;">React, GraphQL, TypeScript, AWS, Heroku</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>The Challenge</h2>Polco, a civic technology company that provides a survey engagement space for local communities and governments, aimed to empower more communities to easily use its digital platform by refining its product's functionality and scaling its offerings. To do so, Polco was seeking a robust technical enhancement that could handle complex data integrations and deliver an intuitive user experience for both government officials and residents.<h2>The Gorilla Logic Approach</h2>Gorilla Logic partnered with Polco to overhaul its digital infrastructure, focusing on key areas of product development that would drive the most impact. The partnership involved:<ol><li>Redesigning the permissions system: Gorilla Logic engineers overhauled the existing broad and generic permissions system to a more granular and flexible structure using React and GraphQL. This refinement allowed for differentiated user roles, enhancing security and user experience.</li><li>Developing a new product module: The 'Track Module' was created to integrate closely with Polco’s data science team, enhancing the way community data was collected, analyzed, and visualized. Using Postgres as a backend data store and GraphQL to maintain data models, Gorilla Logic developed the module to support advanced benchmark surveys and robust data visualization dashboards, allowing communities to compare and improve their metrics.</li><li>Transitioning to a microservices architecture: Recognizing the limitations of a monolithic system, Gorilla Logic worked alongside Polco to begin the transition to a microservices architecture using AWS. This shift facilitated greater scalability, easier updates, and better performance across different platform functionalities.</li><li>Implementing quick-win feature improvements: With Gorilla Logic’s help, Polco established a ‘Quick Wins’ team, enabling them to respond quickly and efficiently to client requests. Gorilla Logic team members collaborated directly with Polco’s end users, shortening response time from request to live production and bringing greater value to clients.</li></ol><figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:100%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:hsl(0, 0%, 0%);"><h3 style="text-align:center;">“The technical insights and product development expertise from Gorilla Logic have been crucial in transforming our platform. Their commitment to integrating with our team and understanding our mission has made a significant difference."</h3>–Tracie Anderson, VP of Technology, Polco</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h2>Business Outcomes</h2>The partnership with Gorilla Logic led to transformative outcomes for Polco, positioning them as a leader in civic technology:<ul><li>Enhanced product flexibility and security: The new permissions system allowed for differentiated user roles and improved security protocols in the platform, which significantly enhanced user trust and satisfaction.</li><li>Innovative community engagement tools: The development of the Track Module introduced new functionalities for data analysis and visualization, providing community leaders and residents with powerful analytics tools to understand and improve their locales. The Track Module also provided the foundation for Polco to begin transitioning from professional services to a product-led company.</li><li>Increased system scalability and performance: By adopting a microservices architecture, Polco can now more efficiently manage its resources and scale specific aspects of its services without compromising the entire platform.</li></ul><h2>The Impact</h2>These advancements have not only solidified Polco’s reputation as a pioneer in civic technology but also enhanced their ability to meet the needs of its user base of community members and government officials. The technical prowess and strategic guidance provided by Gorilla Logic have enabled Polco to deliver a more dynamic and responsive service, leading to increased engagement and better decision-making in the communities they serve.

Increasing User Engagement by Rearchitecting, Scaling, and Enhancing Polco’s Digital Infrastructure

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This blog post highlights six organizations dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ tech professionals, offering invaluable resources and creating safe, empowering spaces for them to excel.

In the tech industry, where innovation thrives on creativity and diverse perspectives, LGBTQ+ representation remains essential for driving progress.But supporting LGBTQ+ tech professionals goes beyond celebrating Pride Month; it's about fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can succeed and innovate year-round. This blog post highlights six organizations dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ tech professionals, offering invaluable resources and creating safe, empowering spaces for them to excel.<h2>LGBTQ in Technology Slack</h2>The LGBTQ in Technology Slack group offers a moderated space for LGBTQ+ people in technology to chat with and support each other. The group offers more than 250 sub-channels to join, including ones highlighting open roles, conventions and conferences, and channels dedicated to specific geographic areas.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://lgbtq.technology/">Learn more about LGBTQ in Technology Slack &gt;</a><h2>Out in Tech</h2>Out in Tech is an international network of queer tech leaders comprised of more than 40,000 members from around the globe. As the world’s largest non-profit community of LGBTQ+ tech leaders, Out in Tech works to create opportunities for each of its members to excel in their careers, expand their networks, and leverage tech for social change.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://outintech.com/">Learn more about Out in Tech &gt;</a><h2>Lesbians Who Tech</h2>Lesbians Who Tech &amp; Allies has created a community of more than 50,000 LGBTQ+ women, non-binary, trans, and gender-nonconforming individuals in the tech industry. Their mission is to promote the visibility and inclusion of women, queer, trans, GNC, and POC leaders in the technology space through networking opportunities and scholarships.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/about/">Learn more about Lesbians Who Tech &gt;</a><h2>Unicorns in Tech</h2>Unicorns in Tech is a global community of LGBTQ+ individuals in tech that bridges the gap between LGBTQ+ tech talent, companies, and organizations, helping to promote a diverse and inclusive industry culture. The member network of 4,000+ individuals has access to year-round events, job boards, and virtual networking via a dedicated Slack channel.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.unicornsintech.com/">Learn more about Unicorns in Tech &gt;</a><h2>Queer Design Club</h2>Queer Design Club is an online community for LGBTQ+ designers and allies, providing a space for designers to celebrate queer contributions to the design industry and visual culture, connect with each other, and share their work. Queer Design Club’s mission is to promote the amazing work that happens at the intersection of design and queer identity around the world.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.queerdesign.club/">Learn more about Queer Design Club &gt;</a><h2>QueerJS</h2>QueerJS is a global meetup series that puts queer tech leaders and speakers center stage. Their virtual and in-person events cover everything from technical demos to workplace accessibility and safety and the relationship between queer identity and software. QueerJS also hosts a Discord server where you can connect with the community in real-time.&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://queerjs.com/faq/">Learn more about QueerJS &gt;</a>Each of these organizations plays a pivotal role in building supportive networks, promoting visibility, and advocating for equity in the tech industry. By connecting with these communities, LGBTQ+ tech professionals can access the resources they need to excel in their careers and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive tech landscape.&nbsp;At Gorilla Logic, we are committed to championing diversity and inclusion, and we encourage everyone to explore these resources, support their missions, and continue the conversation about the importance of representation in technology.

Empowering LGBTQ+ Tech Professionals: 6 Organizations Supporting Diversity in Tech

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