Dependencies in your IDE, Programming to Prevent Break/Fix Cycles

An Integrated Development Environment is essentially home for developers—it’s where they have all their tools to write and test code.
IDEs provide one place for development, meaning developers don’t have to repeatedly change where and how they use their tools (which means faster development processes). They also integrate with code repositories, making it easier to search within the codebase. Plus, they generally have auto-complete and code complete features and can offer refactoring assistance and local execution for debugging. All in all, they’re a huge asset to developer productivity.

IDE gaps around dependencies

Modern IDEs are amazing tools. However, when it comes to dependencies, IDEs only show dependencies on code in the workspace, typically within the project that is open. Developers subsequently aren’t provided dependency information for code that is connected to multiple applications or parts of the application(s) that aren’t loaded into the IDE. This limited dependency visibility is why teams can’t always make code changes with confidence even in great IDEs.

Instead, developers have to rely on tribal knowledge and outdated documentation, all of which suggest they don’t get a complete picture of all dependencies that could be impacted by a change. The impact of unidentified dependencies on development teams can be severe, as developers worry that their actions could lead to breaks—costing organizations both time and money.

Break/fix cycles as a result

The problem leads to cascading break/fix cycles. Developers end up spending a large amount of their time putting out fires rather than focusing on building new features and capabilities.

Say a developer alters the code in their project, but because they can’t see beyond that project, they inadvertently break the code being looked at by a colleague elsewhere. That person then has to devote time to diagnose what caused the break and make changes to rectify it, which could break someone else’s code. It’s a domino effect of only making near-sighted fixes and drains developers’ energy away from more constructive tasks.

How CodeLogic’s IDE Plugins help

Developers don’t have to continue to navigate the blind spots of IDEs. Our IDE integrations enables developers to utilize our application code dependency intelligence directly in their IDEs.

Developers simply install and configure the plugin in minutes, which then displays dependency data within, and across, scanned applications. CodeLogic injects its dependency intelligence into the normal workflows for finding references or usages. Developers do not have to change their behavior to benefit.

From an identified dependency, the CodeLogic plugin helps teams reduce the time they spend looking for accurate dependency data by 90%—meaning they have more time to work on other tasks. When developers can see connections and dependencies across applications, not just project-specific, they can make informed decisions, meet deadlines faster, and improve workflow efficiency. As a result, they lower the volume of break/fix cycles.

CodeLogic has an IDE plugins for JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio, and VS Code