Imagine if you inserted money and pressed Coke, but instead, the vending machine spat Fanta out at you. But imagine if that program later evolved into a 10,000 line program. The sooner you understand and apply these principles, the greater the benefits will be. At Forstek we believe in good coding practice to deliver high-quality products. It is a good practice to avoid writing horizontally long lines of code. One that is reusable, predictable and may potentially serve you well in your future endeavors. IDE's (Integrated Development Environment) have come a long way in the past few years. If someone want to understand another piece of code then he goes to a person responsible for it ant ask her. Therefore, when naming methods, aim to give names that accurately summarize the contents of the method. Programming is the process of coding, testing, troubleshooting, debugging and maintaining a system. A software development methodology is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the life cycle of a software product. When writing code, ask yourself the following question: “Can I (and do I want to) reuse this code in another project?”. File and folder structure Complicated logic for achieving simple tasks is something you want to avoid as the logic one programmer implemented a requirement may not make perfect sense to another. That helps keep them short and, therefore, easy to understand and maintain. For example: This article is part of the 5 Weeks to Learn Topcoder educational series. Good coding practices help your teammates become more productive and makes working with your code base an overall pleasant experience. Good code is predictable. Good coding practices are like a bright beacon guiding unwary developers to the shore at night. Let me give you four points to keep when writing code. There are many different styles of coding (none of which are better or worse). I am passionate about data structures and algorithms. The code should always be simple. It is way better than reinventing the wheel and if you keep it pure, guess what? In short examples that do not include using directives, use namespace qualifications. If the method name becomes too long or vague, it is an indicator that the method is doing way too many things. Now let’s get our hands dirty. That means you should follow the existing coding style that’s already used in the application and always follow the coding best practices. Good Coding Practices: When to Create New Functions. To prevent that, make sure to write smaller, generic helper functions that fulfill one specific task rather than catch-all methods. And guess what? We have been helping startup founders, small businesses, and established companies by crafting best version of their digital products with some sets of practice. 3. What comes out is predictable. IE, if you are doing the same thing twice, it should be a function. For example: 4. That won’t break your app but it would be a nightmare to read, debug and maintain your application later. I generally consider it good practice to keep functions small enough to fit on a screen. In other words, as long as you invest that lump sum right now, the returns you get, years or even months down the track will far outweigh what you put in now. They make the life of every developer working on it hard. ... Python has a very flexible system of providing arguments to functions and methods. It's good coding practice to write functions that do one thing and one thing only. In the software… People just state that global variables are bad and leave it at that. Most of the time, before looking at the logic, people try to grasp the big-picture view of the implementation detail by reading the variable names in each line of logic. Code is good when it adds value to the business, the most perfect and clean code that doesn’t add value, is also, bad code. Easy to debug, extend and test. Unless you like surprises, or you don’t care what drink you get, you are not going to be happy. There is no right or wrong indentation that everyone should follow. No exception to the rule. Although unit tests do not require as much time to reap the benefits, often at times, your patience, as well as that of your project manager will be tested. You can find plenty of tutorials, videos, challenges to complete or practice for creating a … Always sanitize your database queries. The Basics of Good T-SQL Coding Style – Part 3: Querying and Manipulating Data; The Basics of Good T-SQL Coding Style – Part 4: Performance; Everyone has an opinion when it comes to writing T-SQL code, whether talking about formatting, variable assignments, system functions, ANSI standards, or any number of issues. It is a good coding practice to put all declarations at the top of each script or function. When naming classes, variables, and methods, it can be very tempting to give names to our methods out of impulse. However, if time is invested into writing these unit tests and paying attention to the code quality, you will see great improvements in code quality and robustness. Become the expert The scope of this work is C coding style. If it's bigger than that, break it into smaller functions. I assume you already know that you should indent … Patrick Guio Good Programming Practice And like any plant, it requires nurturing. For learning or practicing coding, complete basic challenges and improving your coding programming skills we recommend these 3 free websites, Code School, Codecademy or freeCodeCamp. Without any exceptions, developers don’t like surprises that are a by-product of poorly written code. Competing on F2F challenges means that in most cases you’ll be working based on an existing code base. Good coding practices . Write a Python function to sum all the numbers in a list. Accounting for these situations, its likelihood, weighing the pros and cons of adding too many validation checks. Let me tell you why global variables should be minimized and avoided when possible. The reusable code should never depend on global states. This course aims to introduce you to programming in Python, but also to good programming practices.These comprise practical tips based on practices used by professional programmers that help them write better programs that are easier to understand and share with others. This course contains a detailed review of all the common data structures and provides implementation level details in Java to allow readers to become well equipped. Use cases of a single global variable in a 100 line program are manageable. I will do my best to add to this list as quickly as possible. @deadalnix: Good point. Try coming back to that code a few months down the line and see if it makes sense to you. Making assumptions, re-engineering. Now is the best time to learn and integrate good coding practices into your current projects. Avoid Deep Nesting Everyone can remember spending a lot of time understanding the reason behind an obfuscated code. you don’t receive notifications. 2. If you are not allowed to write unit tests at your work place, try getting into a habit of writing them in your personal projects. If your job is to cook rice, then cook rice and nothing else to avoid confusing your coworkers. easier to learn good habits than to break bad ones! If it does, chances are, you named your variables and methods wisely. All of these ultimately translate into better user experience and easier to extend the code, with minimal side-effects. But the best combination is to grasp the theory first and then apply it in practice. There are so many places where that variable could be manipulated. DRY stands for “Don’t Repeat Yourself. 5. The meaningful and easy to interpret code is obligatory in big applications if you don’t want to get lost in the jungle. The results are not visible at the start, but with patient and in due time, the benefits are visible and well worth it! Follow the DRY Principle Let’s backtrack and review why steps 1-3 help developers write reusable code. Good code is predictable. A lot of companies see the value in writing unit tests, and it is a very useful skill to have. Learn new concepts by solving fun challenges in 25+ languages addressing all the hot programming topics. I aimed to present these points so that they build on each other, and make sense as both individual pieces of advice and as a cohesive unit. The point of style guides is to have a common vocabulary. new notifications. This increases the likelihood of side-effects, especially when we get all funky with multi-threaded programs. There are tons of benefits from maintaining a version control system. Good team is where each person has own role and responsible for exact piece of work. What I will share with you are five universal good coding practices that will improve the readability, extensibility and overall value of your code. Easier to add code or breakpoints at one place in the wrapper when debugging for instance. So, always keep the code as simple as possible. Thousands of lines of code, hundreds of methods and classes. One that is reusable, predictable and may potentially serve you well in your future endeavors. This is why we also need to be intentional on how we name our variables. – Kramii Nov 17 '11 at 10:30 Naturally, the choice of words in the sentence and how they are packaged together is also important. Your information has been successfully received. When looking at an article, what stands out to you the most? Good code should be easy to build upon without rewriting the core. It is a good practice to avoid writing horizontally long lines of code. The back-end and databases is where my heart is at. You insert money in, press the button for Coke. At the very least, all the acquired knowledge will help mature you as a programmer. At a later stage you can also expose these functions when using the revealing module pattern to create an API to extend the main functionality. The layer of confusion is amplified if that global variable is also mutable. “Good coding is like using correct punctuation. One that is reusable, predictable and may potentially serve you well in your future endeavors. I'm throwing this out there because I honestly don't know what the best practice is for this case. The waterfall model is a sequential development approach; … The same piece of code should not be repeated over and over again. Whats worse, the complexity of the program scales in proportion to the size of the program. Mastering good coding requires a lot of practice. DRY programming: Don't Repeat Yourself. Especially if you are a beginner, I implore you to try writing code that is pure. Keep functions pure. Good coding practices help your teammates become more productive and makes working with your code base an overall pleasant experience. By the way, we now have a video version of “Getting Started” with MATLAB, as well as several additional MathWorks’ resources to guide the user to better coding practices. Ten Good Coding Practices for Data Scientists Published August 15, 2019 In the early days of data science, many data scientists came with a math background and as a result I think the field took on some bad practices, at least from a computer science perspective. Let’s take a look at a very simple example. You know that you are going to get a can of Coke in exchange for your money. Use of proper naming conventions is a well known best practice. You may have heard this often in programming, regardless of language. 6. And as I mentioned before, the sooner you start applying them, the better. I created this blog as an outlet to express what I know / have been learning in text form for retaining knowledge and also to hopefully help the wider community. Developers at all stages in their journey will benefit from applying and learning good coding practices. Write a Python function to find the Max of three numbers. You should avoid writing all of your code in one of 1-2 files. Want to learn more? One I particularly recommend is the recorded webinar entitled “Speeding Up MATLAB Applications.” Make the extra effort to be reduce the size for better coding; just try to minimize the coding and the functions that span pages. Your precious seconds saved writing the most elegant code, will lead to full minutes others scratching their heads, asking themselves what (the hell) is going on. A lot of companies see the value in writing unit tests, and it is a very useful skill to have. Nine Common Traits and Ways of Identifying Bad Code, Best Practices != Writing Good Code – Evaluating code quality, How to Learn a New Programming Language Effectively, How to Write Clean Code that Reduces Headaches, Code is reusable when it can be ported to another development environment and integrated seamlessly, Beginning my Journey to Learn C Programming, » Good Coding Practices – Five Tips to Enhance Code Quality, Mastering the JavaScript this Keyword – Detailed Guide, Algorithmic Problem Solving for Programmers, A Gentle Introduction to the Command Line, Implementing the Java StringBuilder Class. Unit tests are one of the good coding practices that are frowned down upon, because of the time constraints. This document gives coding conventions for the Python code comprising the standard library in the main Python distribution. Simplicity, proper code organization and good design makes your code more reliable and bug-free. All the blood, sweat and tears will eventually produce beautiful, tested, pure and robust code. And chances are, by this point, other global variables may have been added to keep track of the program. Top 15+ Best Practices for Writing Super Readable Code 1 - Commenting & Documentation. Methods are like headings or sentences in an article. But more important than the skill, unit tests broaden the developer’s mind to think outside of the box and scan for all possible situations. Making assumptions, re-engineering. Most importantly, I want you to understand the reason why we like to adhere to these principles. Good coding practices - Selecting “good” variable names¶. Keep the code simple No matter what environment you work in, regardless of any global variable, if you insert 1 and 2, you will always get 3 back. Global variables cause confusion because they are accessible from anywhere within the program. 5. You may have heard this many times, but that is because unit tests provide an avenue for a piece of code to mature. Use consistent indentation This is the only way to grow professionally. Long lines are hard to read. Join challenges and check your notification settings if Programming principles help you to write excellent quality of code and maintain a good coding practice. 7. A good coding practice is to write code that yields predictable outcomes. Why should a developer follow the principles? I am a programmer currently living in Seoul, South Korea. Python functions [20 exercises with solution] [An editor is available at the bottom of the page to write and execute the scripts.] Writing and Easier debugging is certainly a benefit of splitting things into functions (as is the ability to unit test separate functions). Or is the cost for jumping functions too impacting to be worth it? If you would like for me to add more points to this list or feel as though an important point was omitted from the list, please leave a comment and let me know. 1. The reusable code should also yield consistent results that are not dependant on mutable states. Remember, you are not the only one (or at least you shouldn’t be) writing and maintaining that code base. Imagine if you inserted money and pressed Coke, but instead, the vending machine spat Fanta out at you. Please see the companion informational PEP describing style guidelines for the C code in the C implementation of Python .. Optional arguments are a part of this offer. Here is a basic example in JavaScript, but should be easy to understand, regardless of your programming language background. If you are not allowed to write unit tests at your work place, try getting into a habit of writing them in your personal projects. That won’t break your app but it would be a nightmare to read, debug and maintain your application later. Especially when everything makes a lot of sense in your head. When readi… As I was writing I realised that my points were a gross over-simplification. Make sure that both methods and variable names are clear and accurately describe what is going on. Avoid shared states (Ahemm … global variables). I read on here about functions doing one thing and only one thing to make the code easier to follow. Naming conventions Imagine if you gave a tourist the wrong direction, just how mad and confused he/she will be. 13 Simple Rules for Good Coding (from my 15 years of experience) ... — On my practice more than 70%. Unless you like surprises, or you don’t care what drink you get, you are not going to be happy. This article shows several examples of good and bad practices of coding in Python that you’re likely to meet often. Long lines are hard to read. The amount of code of a complex application is enormous. 2. Simple and no-nonsense method and variable names make the code more palatable to other developers. If possible, find ways to eliminate global variables. All the blood, sweat and tears will eventually produce beautiful, tested, pure and robust code. Good coding practices are like a bright beacon guiding unwary developers to the shore at night. Failing to Modularize Your Code. Generally, it is the heading that stands out the most. So the question - is this a good practice in general, to create a new function for a very small amount of code to save some space and readability? Efficient coding may be penny wise but pound foolish. If you follow this blog, you might have picked up the fact that I love pure functions. You are giving directions to the next programmer who comes around to read your code. Practice & learn the fun way Practice pure code. Go to the editor Click me to see the sample solution. Too many levels of nesting can make code harder to read and follow. Code with predictable results is like a vending machine. The code that you write inside of a method body is the words that make up the sentence. https://www.codeproject.com/articles/26222/c-coding-practices-guide If you declared a variable, chances are, you declared it to use it in your program. In a matter of hours, discover new languages, algorithms or tricks in courses crafted by top developers. Keeping a clean folder structure will make the code a lot more readable and maintainable. Introduction. Make your coding very simple, in other words don't use ten lines of code for something you can do in five in another way. 2 - Consistent Indentation. The simple add function above is pure. Learning and applying good coding practices is like investing in stocks that you know, for sure, will rise exponentially. Easy to debug, extend and test. good practice to serve several purposes: If third-party libraries interface change, only the the wrapper functions need change, not the main application. For this function, even if we put in num1 = 3, we won’t know for certain whether or not we will get 8 because another part of the program may have and can manipulate the value of GLOBAL_NUMBER. Check out the entire series and all the helpful content here. A good coding practice is to write code that yields predictable outcomes. Read our blog post for more info. Well, in a program, key methods are like headings. Friendly coding practices start with the obvious. When I started my adventure with programming in C language, I wrote complete spaghetti code. Code written with the help of unit tests are like a Chinese bamboo tree. We’re actively adding Again, others can well be the future-you. Fewer bugs and side-effects. In the first four years, the Chinese bamboo tree shows limited growth. All the blood, sweat and tears will eventually produce beautiful, tested, pure and robust code. Building on points one, two and three enables us to achieve point four, which is to write reusable code. Common methodologies include waterfall, prototyping, iterative and incremental development, spiral development, agile software development, rapid application development, and extreme programming.. Is a very common issue where developers use variables like X1, Y1 and forget to replace them with meaningful ones, causing confusion and making the code less readable. Meaningful names 3. This document is a modified version of a document from a committee formed at AT&T's Indian Hill labs to establish a common set of coding standards and recommendations for the Indian Hill community. In the fifth year, it grows 80 feet in just 6 weeks. Accounting for these situations, its likelihood, weighing the pros and cons of adding too many validation checks. In fact, good naming conventions reduce the need for comments and documentation. Version control; One of the best practices of good coding is to maintain version control. Code with added dependencies is generally classified as difficult to reuse. Once you start competing in large projects you’ll immediately understand the importance of consistent code styling. It yields predictable outcomes. In other words, functions, classes, subroutines, should all have a single responsibility. Limit line length A simple, intuitive method name is worth a thousand words. I try to write modular code so that I can simply import that module without having to rewrite it. Don’t do something that you are not supposed to. This will: Give cleaner code; Provide a single place to look for local variables; Make it easier to avoid unwanted (implied) global variables; Reduce the possibility of unwanted re-declarations Learn from the best. 1. File and folder structure You should avoid writing all of your code in one of 1-2 files. When writing an article for a high school or college essay, do you just write some random string of words and finalize the heading without a second thought? Mastering Data Structures & Algorithms using C and C++ for those who are good at C/C++; Data Structures in Java: An Interview Refresher by The Educative Team to refresh important Data Structure and algorithms concepts in Java. This will help you write reusable and therefore, more value-adding code. In other words, would it be considered good coding practice to make your functions work this way? In other words, steps 1-3 help us write code that is reusable. The best style, is a consistent style. Project managers and clients want immediate results. Good style should encourage consistent layout, improve portability, and reduce errors. You can manage without it, but it sure makes things easier to read.” – Hadley Wickham. Unfortunately, every developer faced the problem of poor code readability.