10 Programming Habits that every Developer Should Adopt

Write Human-Friendly Code

Always remember that you are not writing code for machines but for others too. So it is essential to come up with a readable code. It is true that programming is like writing a good poem. The tone should be very consistent, the words should be descriptive & sentence well-structured.

Here are some tips to write friendly code.

1. Follow Consistent naming conventions

For instance, if you name private variables with an underscore as the first letter, you should follow that trend throughout the code. And if you are working with a team, it will be good if you first discuss naming conventions before anyone moves further with the code.

• Descriptive Variable / Method Name

The variable and method name should be described in a proper manner. For example, uncommon abbreviations like Sort_PT() may be confusing: what does the PT mean? If you can’t answer it on a second check, optimize the name to Sort_PostType() for better comprehension.

2. Planning Before Coding

It’s crucial to know exactly what to do before you initiate the process. In the scripting industry, it is important to plan ahead. Writing a fixed navigation menu is easy, but what if the menu needs to be adaptive while being able to minimize itself when visitors want to scroll down the page?

• Plan Your Code

So instead of problem-solving & programming the parallel way, it’s far easier to figure out the process first, then write the solution.

3. Write Manageable Code

How to make this possible? Use array. It’s perfect for storing multiple variables and you can access all those variables with convenience for loop or for each method. There are several dynamic methods to add, arrange & retrieve data in certain languages such as List and LINQ for C#, so be sure to regularly look out for better features, libraries, or plugins for smarter data management.

4. Stop Overdoing Features

As the skills mature, developers tend to build more complex solutions that cater to a wider range of needs of their clients. It’s a good sign of growth but be careful as you might be stepping into another trap by overdoing a feature that is entirely unnecessary for the project.

During the development phase, it’s important to keep in mind the project’s primary objective and only add those features which fulfill the purpose. If you know the exact collection size then use Array. It List’s function is able to retrieve the data the way you want, don’t use the advanced LINQ.

5. Find A Stronger Editor

The right tools can help you grow in knowledge and expedite project completion. It doesn’t matter how experienced you are, it’s recommended to opt for those editors that offer code completion such as Sublime Text and Aptana Studio 3.

This feature will not only help beginners to understand & learn the syntax, but it also allows professionals to put up better codes or solutions for future use.

6. Always Learn Something New

In this field, you can get phased out pretty quickly. Within just 10 years several developmental approaches and scripting languages have been declared obsolete. Even if you graduate in this subject from a top college that still doesn’t ensure you are primed for employment.

7. Learn To Debug in an efficient manner

It is impossible to write error-free code, so to overcome this issue you need to have good debugging skills. The traditional trial-and-error method might work, but it’s a bit slow. Plus, why torture yourself when there are several debuggers available on the market. For example, Firebug is used for JavaScript. Even IDEs such as Aptana Studio 3 and Xamarin Studio have released their powerful inbuilt debuggers.

8. Do the Version Control

There will be times when you make a big programming mistake and wish to go back to the earlier version of the code then you can take help of the Git- a popular version control system that consists of a large number of documents. With Git, you can keep as many revisions as you want, send out the files for some coding experiment, track down the part of your code which you changed last time and revert back to it whenever you want.

9. Don’t develop extra prototypes, Finish Current Project

It’s true that coding and debugging can drain you physically and emotionally. And some of the developers are inclined towards building prototypes of their work, even before it is actually finished. Although prototyping is beneficial in the long run it doesn’t help you in escaping from work.

10. Think about Organisation

A clean, structured, and well-organized code helps in eliminating the readability issues. It is essential to group your script to enable easy modification. Don’t put your whole code into a single script. It might seem convenient to have 9000+ lines of code but debugging will become a nightmare. The best practice is to separate the code into different files as per their primary functions.