You would not want your programming efforts to go down the drain after pouring in the hard work and spending long working hours on the desk writing and fixing the code.

Perhaps, you should discover better ways of doing your work rather than hastening and going through it repeatedly. It is rightly said ‘A stitch in time saves nine’. Similarly, use of standards and implementing uniform coding style in time can prevent coding errors and iterations in the long run.

Exercising coding standards and best practices help in reducing time spent on code review due to errors. On time completion of development, phases can greatly enhance productivity and add value to the product and consequently to the organization.

Pre-preparation is The Key

It is not possible to start coding without having entire knowledge of the system. Especially in a team, it is very important to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Before you start coding you must,

• Gather sufficient information and a have complete knowledge of the scope of work.
• Seek clarity by proper analysis and planning.
• Prepare and keep the scope documentation handy, as necessary.
• Understand the goal of the application. Understand what are the purpose, role, and function of the application.

7 Points to Keep in Mind while Programming:

Once you are ready with the information and have well-understood the scope it’s time to get to the programming business while keeping these 7 coding practices in mind,

• Development Lifecycle

  
  

  Make sure that an appropriate lifecycle is chosen. All the activities related to the project will revolve around the lifecycle. Implementing a lifecycle helps in systematic execution of the project.




• Use of Variables and Proper Naming Conventions

  
  

  Shortcuts are harmful. Programmers, in general, have a habit of using short variables which creates confusion, causing waste of time in finding the relevance. Instead, it is a good coding practice to have proper naming conventions and give meaningful and descriptive variable names.




• Proper Use of Commenting

  
  

  In a rush to meet the deadlines programmers often tend to avoid commenting. However, while working in a team, programmers working as per coding standards, have often found commenting very useful as the code becomes self-explanatory. Since coding is done in phases and in most cases there is more than one person working on a module, commenting in such cases can greatly help in understanding the code function.




• Keep the Code Simple

  
  

  It is found to be a good practice to maintain simplicity in the code through,

  • Consistent coding-style
  • Small code blocks
  • Clean code and proper nesting structure to keep it readable
  • Avoiding complicated logic for simple derivations

• Scope of future modifications

  
  

  A good coding practice ensures a scope of future modification in order to add new functionalities or further enhancement of the code.




• Make sure the application retains portability

  
  

  Code flexibility and portability are very important. Hardcoded values can create a problem in the execution of the code on a host with a different design. Parameters and variables should be wisely used to ensure complete portability of the code. Keep the use of absolute values (absolute paths, usernames etc.) to a minimum, if it not possible to avoid them completely.




• Effective debugging

  
  

  Debugging of complex codes should be done at different stages of the development process. This saves time in the long run, as the programmer can tap the errors faster and resolve it beforehand.

Coding best practices are a set of rules derived by the software development communities through experiences and errors faced by them while coding. Eventually, standards originated from the study led by industry experts who analyzed the correlation between bugs and specific code blocks.

When working in a team, coding best practices become an essential part of effective team collaboration and systematic and timely completion of the project.

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