Are you a pro-software developer, or are you on your journey o becoming the most admirable software developer? Well, coding is a crucial part of every software developer. So, how do you ensure you achieve a reliable, secure, and safe code in the process? This article will help you realize the best approaches you can take to ensure code quality in software development. Keep reading for a better understanding of what you should do to improve code quality.
What to do to achieve code quality standards
Coding standards include techniques, rules, and practices developers need to implement to produce efficient, readable, and cleaner code with minimal or no errors. The developers, therefore, offer an even format as they build highly standardized code. The advantages of implementing code standards include:
- Making it easy to note errors and correct them early enough
- Ensuring there is uniformity through the coding process when the code is created by different engineers
- To enhance faster results and to ensure efficiency during programming
- To enhance the production of a code that can be re-used
- To produce an easy-to-maintain, readable, and simple code
There is no doubt that ensuring code standards is significant in software development. So, what are these practices developers need to implement? Let’s find out below:
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Focusing on the readability of the code
With readable code, it is easy to optimize space and time and easy to follow at the same time. So, the following are ways in which the developer can achieve code readability:
- Mark the beginning and end of control structures using indentation, then specify the code between them.
- Writing only a few lines
- Avoiding lengthy functions – A pro developer will agree that a single function should handle a single task.
- Implement accurate naming conventions
- Maintain short lines – It is obvious that humans love to read short lines more than long lines, whether vertically or horizontally.
- Apply the DRY principle (don’t repeat yourself). You should not use the same code in the same script by automating repetitive tasks.
- Include capital letters in SQL special words and functions to distinguish them from column names and tables.
- Avoid deep nesting
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Leave comments and prioritize documentation
Not every person who views the code is a pro developer. So, do not assume that everyone will understand the code instantly without further explanation. Developers will understand a code instantly.
So, ensure you include comments describing the code function at several points in the script. Such comments will guide the reader through the whole process. However, there is no point in leaving comments on codes that are self-explanatory.
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Avoid using a single identifier for different purposes
Each variable should have a name that describes its specific purpose. As a developer always knows that a single variable cannot be assigned to numerous functions or to several values. Should you use a single identifier for different purposes, people reading the code will be confused, making it hard to put in place changes in the future when the need arises. So, each variable should have a unique name.
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Ensure all headers for different modules are standardized
A person will read the code easily when the headers of different modules have the same format. For instance, in each header, you can include the following details in the same order.
- The name of the module
- Creation date
- The module creator’s name
- Modification details and history
- Summary of the module’s purpose
- The role of the module
- The valuables which the module can access
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Implement daily backups plans
During the software development process, many elements can lead to loss of data. For instance, the hardware can get damaged, a software glitch can occur, the battery can die, or a system can crash. This will lead to a loss of data, and it will only mean you have wasted time and resources. So, since you don’t want to experience it, make sure you put in measures to save the code daily after every modification. Also, make sure you back up the workflow on each control mechanism you perform during the process.
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Implement Exception Handling
In the field of software development, exception refers to unusual events, issues, or problems that may arise when the code is run, then disrupting the normal execution. When such an event happens, it will terminate or pause the program execution, which will affect the whole process, and as a developer, put in place measures to avoid such from happening.
Nonetheless, there are situations when problems might occur. Should you face such an instance, use the following approaches to control or minimize the damage.
- Apply real-time log analysis
- Maintain the code in a try-catch block
- Wait for some seconds since it might be a minor software issue or poor network
- Activate the auto-recovery
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Select industry-specific coding standards
The standards for coding practices vary from one industry to another, depending on the specific product. For instance, the coding standards for gaming software aren’t the same for luxury automobile coding.
So, as a developer, keeping up with the industry-specific standards makes it simple to write the code accurately to ensure the overall results match the product’s expectations. After all, the aim is to create a code that will meet business requirements, Moreso user needs.
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Always implement coding rules
Checking your code against coding standards might lead you to a lot of bugs. So, you need to categorize the rules via a stern matrix to help you assess the quality of the code and determine how to fix the bugs.
The reason for assessing code quality is the decision when it is appropriate to move to the production stage. Should you detect harsh issues, then it will mean it is not ready. However, if the problems are manageable, it means you can move to the production stage and fix the issues later.
So, as a developer, ensure you prioritize defects to ensure you fix the issues with higher issues first as part of coding rules.
Conclusion
Every software developer should be up to the trends running in the industry. This is to ensure quality coding standards during the whole process. As a starter in the field, make sure you comprehend the above practices and learn how to implement them as part of your coding duties.
Finally, to implement better code quality standards and best practices in the development, consider to hire dedicated developers from Aalpha at an affordable rates.