Important Habits for Every Developer
Do you have tasks that you repeat every day on autopilot? Brushing your teeth, brewing aromatic coffee, and scrolling through social media are part of the morning ritual for many people around the world. All of these are habits.
As a rule, developers have very responsible work that requires particular diligence and concentration. To produce good code, it's necessary to work not only on its quality but also to incorporate useful habits into your life. These habits help save time and energy and are an essential part of any modern person's life.
This article will discuss seven good habits that will help developers write code more productively and appear as true professionals in the eyes of their colleagues.
Ban Procrastination
Don't put off important tasks. More often than not, they'll remain unfinished. So, if you come across a phrase like "TODO..." in code, it means someone put off solving that issue and then completely forgot about it.
A project is considered complete only when the code has been refactored and successfully tested in action. It's very important to thoroughly think through every line. Many developers are lazy and don't do this.
It's not enough to do both of the above actions once. You need to form a habit. To do this, spend a little more time and work through a few more scenarios. It's also a good idea to think about automating the testing process.
Don't forget to provide the tester with all the necessary data. It's also good to include all information in the documentation.
Avoid Repetition
Sometimes developers get the feeling that they are writing code they've already written elsewhere.
If you experience déjà vu, look at what you wrote before. Repetition must be avoided, because later you'll have to make corrections in multiple places, making maintenance much harder. This situation could easily lead to numerous bugs.
When this happens, refactoring comes to the rescue. Break the source code into several parts and mark the repeated fragments. Then simply call them where needed.
Refactor Working Code
If the code runs and correctly fulfills its task, don't think the project is finished. Before moving on to the next assignment, you need to refactor. Only inexperienced beginners are unaware of this rule.
Before final delivery, carefully review every line of code. Some variables might be better placed elsewhere, and others might be completely unnecessary. Large functions can often be split into several smaller ones. It's also a good idea to consider what to do with overly long lines.
True professionals strive to keep their code clean so that those who work on it later won't experience a storm of frustration. This helps build a good reputation among colleagues.
Frequently Make Small Commits
Commits can convey information, so it's very important to leave specific comments.
If you make small commits at least once an hour, it will be much easier to find the cause of a bug later. Moreover, the bug will only affect a small piece of code and won't cause major issues.
It's a mistake to make large commits, for example at the end of each workday. After numerous changes throughout the day, it will be very difficult to locate the source of a problem.
Moreover, when merging a commit into the main branch, the owner is unlikely to dig into code without meaningful, detailed comments if an error occurs.
Stick to a Consistent Style
To stay in your usual workflow, always use the same style when writing code. Don't change variable declaration methods or other syntactic conventions every month.
Since a project typically involves a whole team of several people, by the end of the project the code will be a complete mess if each developer constantly changes their programming style.
If you maintain consistency, the code becomes clear and pleasant to read.
There is plenty of literature to help you choose a coding style. Read more about declaring classes, functions, and variables. The naming convention should be consistent.
Track Your Work Time
The amount of time a developer spends on a given task contributes to their overall efficiency within the team. It can significantly decrease due to distractions like entertainment sites and funny pictures on social media.
From the very beginning, learn to measure the time it takes you to solve a given problem.
Try to maximize the time you spend working during designated hours. By increasing efficiency, you can earn recognition from management and simply learn discipline.
Conclusion
Of course, under high intellectual load and constant stress, it's hard to force yourself to change your usual lifestyle and introduce new abstract habits. Many useful apps have been created that allow you to adopt any habit in 21 days.
These habits will help you earn a good reputation among colleagues and stay afloat in today's constantly changing information environment, making you a sought-after developer on the job market even in the toughest times.