Rescuing a Laravel Project from the Brink.

HiTide was contacted by a professional services company that relied on an internal system built with Laravel. The system utilised jQuery on the frontend and Blade for templating. It had been outsourced to an offshore development team who, despite being cost-effective, had made a real hash of new features and fixes. The client was looking to relieve their pain and pass the project to capable hands to complete a long list of fixes and new features. 🛠️

The client needed a partner who could not only address the immediate issues but also provide a sustainable path forward for their system's development and maintenance.

With these objectives in mind, HiTide stepped in to rescue the project and restore the client's confidence in their internal system. 🤝

Taking on other people's code and a mature codebase can be challenging at the best of times, but this project added an extra layer of complexity due to the poor coding practices employed. The previous team had performed textbook examples of "what not to do," which made the task even more daunting. 😬

Additionally, there were no automated tests, making it difficult to know if changes introduced new issues. This lack of testing infrastructure meant that every change had to be meticulously checked to avoid unintended consequences.

The challenge was not only to fix the existing issues but also to establish a robust foundation for future development. 🏗️

HiTide began by adding an automated test suite, starting with tests for new functionality and gradually adding tests for adjacent features. We treaded carefully at first, but as our confidence and testing coverage grew, we were able to pick up speed. 🚀

We worked closely with the client to ensure our changes had minimal knock-on effects and weren't any more complicated than necessary. This collaboration was key to maintaining the system's integrity while implementing new features and fixes.

Additionally, we started making small refactors where suitable, reducing overall complexity by creating reusable code blocks. This approach not only improved the system's maintainability but also set the stage for future enhancements. 🔄

The client's faith was restored in the project. Hundreds of items have been ticked off their backlog, and the automated test suite has grown to over 1000 automated tests. This robust testing framework has provided a safety net for ongoing development and maintenance. 🛡️

There's still some way to go on this project, but everything is in hand. HiTide continues to work month-to-month, adding new features that enhance the client's business operations. The project has transformed from a source of frustration to a valuable asset for the client's business. 🌟

We are proud to be part of this journey and look forward to supporting the client's future growth and success. 🚀