Let's begin by saying there is no right or wrong way in coding but always a better way. It's not only about problem-solving but also how simply yet efficiently we can solve it. The best practices enhance the essence of your code making it readable, reusable and scalable. In the long run, it saves time from unnecessary tech debts and code refactorizations. Depending on your coding language the best practices might differ. Here we have explored a few general coding practices which everyone should follow.

Variable & Function Names

Variable & Function Names Having meaningful variable/function names is a must. It should never be random "x,y,z". It should be relevant to the problem & short, but not chatting abbreviations. Also, avoid appending numeric integers to the names. Variable/function names should be consistent to make it readable for any third person.

    

 

Always try to follow the same nomenclature throughout the codebase to maintain uniformity. When the names are self-explanatory the logic is easier to understand.

Adding comments

Comments are inline documentation in your codebase. It helps in understanding any complex logic on the go. To unleash its full potential these need to be added in a specific manner. There are different ways of adding comments like

• TODO
• Comments in block
• Inline comments

Please follow my blog click here on how to use these comments effectively.

Dynamic Coding

The target while coding should be "How small can my code be to solve a larger problem". Code reusability makes the application more reliable & adaptable. This can be achieved by dividing the complex code into various simple modules. We need to design the system architecture in a way so these modules can be utilized whenever necessary. This reduces the time and cost of maintenance and improves the overall performance of the system.

Spaces & Indentation

If you are a Python developer it is mandatory to maintain indentation, whereas when developing in other languages it does not take it into account. It segregates different segments making it easier for the reader. It also helps to refactor the code easily without any errors. Instead of using single/multiple spaces, the tab spaces are automatic in most IDEs.

README files

A README file defines the scope and structure of the application. It provides a set of guidelines to readers for using the project from how to install and how to contribute in it. It should also show changelogs and acknowledgement to the contributors. In most cases the README files are not up to date with latest changes which are committed. There are tools which can help to create good README files which we can utilize incase we are running short on time.

These are just a handful of scenarios which we can leverage to improve coding standards. Utilizing them will definetly help in easier code optimization and scaling. This will also help in avoiding conflicts and improve your skills as a developer. It helps at times of any breakdown or debugging to quickly scan through codebase to eliminate issues.