Photo by on Unsplash Nick Fewings Coding practices may vary. As a general principle, things work better when they’re done right. This also applies to . Software developers tend to play by the rules more often than not. However, sometimes a code can be sloppy and disorganized and that doesn’t make anyone’s life any easier. code According to the ubiquitous , This means that the root of all your problems lies in only a few bad coding practices. Pareto principle 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes. Below are 4 deadly sins of programming: Typos in Your Code Spelling and grammar deficiencies can impact your overall programming skills. There’s nothing more infuriating than showing off your work to your boss and seeing a spelling error. It’s like waving a red flag at a bull. One solution to this is to work on a decent ) that has coloring. Furthermore, you may pick easy-to-spell variables and function names just to be on the safe side. integrated development environment (IDE syntax Too Many Cooks Let’s say, a team of developers works on a project over a few months or years. During this time everyone continues to ‘twist and turn’ the code and software design scope. This, in turn, creates incomprehensive coding structures and GOTO statements that contradict with the code’s and . scopes models You can avoid a tangled web of programming source code by leveraging lightweight , implementing layers, as well as giving unit testing some added traction. frameworks Not Commenting on Your Code Should a good code speak for itself? Only if you include comments. We feel your pain. Nobody has the time and aspiration to narrate their code after hours of debugging or problem-solving. Nevertheless, you shouldn’t leave your code without a translation. Sometimes, what looks simple to you might look like a to other developers. Klingon Always write at least a one-liner to comment on classes, methods, and other parts of your work. You’re already testing the limits of your brainpower, so don’t make it any harder by not leaving reminders for later. V123456 When you make a mistake in the original code and need to revert the changes, version control becomes a true godsend. Furthermore, let’s not forget the fact that the log history shows you exactly who else has played in the . sandbox Have you ever: Lost code or had an antiquated backup? Had to keep up multiple versions of a product? Wanted to see the difference between your code versions? Needed to provide global access to your team? Version control will get you covered any time you need recovery, coherent , or improved visibility. It’s an elegant tool for a civilized world. collaboration Feature Flagging Trust us, not using feature flagging when rolling out new functionalities to your users is the deadliest sin of them all. With feature flagging, new features can be deployed without making them visible to users. Likewise, if you need data migration (for example), feature toggles will prevent your work from impacting the rest of the team or destabilizing the codebase. Credit for the above piece goes to Tatsiana Isakova, Ellen Stevens, and Hang Ngo. Subscribe to ’s thematic newsletters via our subscribe form in the footer. HackerNoon

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