Tips for Better Coding

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On this page, we collect coding tips, advice and practices with which we have had good experience, but in 140 characters or less!

Please sign your tips or add a source (signature does not have to be added to the character count). You can use a counter.

At some point, we'll have to take the time and group/order these experiences.

Tips

• If you have to scroll in your editor to understand what happens in a piece of code, divide & conquer. -- DanielNuest - 2014-09-04
• If you plan a new functionality and you have to think long for the best class/package to put it in, it probably requires a new one. -- DanielNuest - 2014-09-04
• Use semantically reasonable/meaningful verbs for method names. createBook() should only create the "Book" object, and a (required) author.
• DRY - don't repeat yourself. If you see same code merely two times in your project, extract it to it's own method/class.
• If your method/function name is more than 20 characters, you should either rethink the name, or rethink the whole function/method [..] -- http://www.sitepoint.com/10-tips-for-better-coding/
• Use logging frameworks. Every time a programmer writes System.out a kitten dies. Think of the kittens. -- DanielNuest - 2014-09-04
• Read other's code. Try to understand it. Try to understand why you understood it (or why you did not). -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Think twice before making anything static. -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Design patterns are good, but some of them are evil. -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Be aware of code smell and anti-patterns. -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• No one understands deeply nested function calls (a(b(c(d())))). Use fluent intefaces (a().b().c().d()). -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Learn from other people's failures. -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Do not restrict yourself to a single language, but increase your expertise by learning new languages and try to solve some problems with it. -- ChristianAutermann - 2014-09-05
• Always end a coding session by creating a failing test. -- DanielNuest - 2014-10-06 [via
• You can tell how well code is organized from across the room [..] The shape of code from 20 feet away is incredibly informative. -- DanielNuest - 2015-06-16 via http://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-paul-ford-what-is-code/

Futher Reading

• 10 Tips for Better Coding
• "Manifesto for Agile Software Development"
• "Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship"
• "Programming aphorisms of Strunk & White"
• What is Code (Paul Ford, Bloomberg) - introduction to code, programming, and software development for managers