All programmers a few lines earlier or later face problems when developing code. And no matter how planned and brilliant the software engineering applied was, always appears to have a bug.
Sometimes there could be the fault of the chosen language, sometimes by how the algorithms behave, or sometimes the fault of distraction.
Whatever the reason is, there is no programmer who can write error-free code. And often solve problems by spending more time than on the project itself.
But it is possible with good programming practices to minimize this problem by writing clean code and thus creating reliable and stable software. The following 10 tips can help you to avoid problems in programming:
1) VISUAL DEMONSTRATION
Print data values and variables are the simplest and fast for developer preview results. A print fitted in the code allows controlling the flow of data through a piece of code and rapidly identifying errors.
2) WRITE COMMENTS IN THE CODE
Explain what makes a piece of code using comments is a form simple and effective. Comments can help a lot to the understanding of a section of the code and how it relates to the rest of the program.
Many people “think ugly” comments in the code, but this is almost a standard practice in software engineering. Comments also help quickly to “remember” the function of a certain part of the program after spending a long time without seeing it.
3) DEBUGGER
Debuggers codes show the logical conclusion of a part of the program. So the programmer can go line by line and inspect everything as variable values, etc. Most languages have debuggers available with various features, including some graphical interfaces and breakpoint settings within the execution environment.
4) BUG TRACKER
It is an annotation system for tracking bugs, critical to any software project. By creating this “bug file”, you can avoid losing information sometimes that is vital to solving problems during the development of the program. Without a Bug Tracker, tracking and identifying bugs is extremely difficult because we rely on memory or scattered notes made by ourselves or a programmer.
5) LINTER
Some languages do static analysis on code to check for errors before it is compiled or run, being very useful to check the syntax. Use a Linter before compiling or running the code, it helps to find and fix errors before they see bugs in the software when executed. This practice saves time while locating errors caused by syntax and typing.
6) VERSION CONTROL
After tracking, locate and fix bugs in a program so that you can create control over the codes that are being used and that have been modified. It may happen that some positive changes in that program module could create a negative influence on one another.
So creating a version control is the best practice in software engineering for any project and should not be ignored.
There are several systems to control versions that are available for free on the Internet for you to use in your projects. Such as Git, Mercurial, and SVN that allow us to organize, document and track different versions of code. The different versions of codes can be shared by multiple programmers for example, and they may work at the same time without creating errors that affect the progress of each other.
7) MODULARIZATION
An important code misplaced in software can be a headache to fix bugs. When the code is easy to understand it is simple to run and can find errors quickly.
The best way to ensure ease of understanding of codes is to write functions that only do one thing. Create modules for functions and procedures that are important for your software, so the isolation of a particular point of the program is facilitated and bug fixes can be done faster and in an efficient way.
Create software components that do only one thing is called modularization of code. This type of program helps to understand software systems more easily. The modularization creates one level of abstraction that simplifies the understanding of a particular program block without having to understand the system as a whole in detail.
8) AUTOMATED TEST
Unit testing and other types of automated tests can be easily performed when using modularization. You can run and check a piece of code with entries and specific data to see if the result of the program coincides with what is expected.
It is much simpler and faster to check the functionality of a function or class method than functional tests that verify the general behavior of a program. There are many tools to make it easier to run tests on your programs.
One is Inflectra that simplifies testing processes. Another example is the standard Python library that includes a Python version of JUnit called “PyUnit” or simply unit test (unit testing framework).
9) METHOD TEDDY BEAR (DEBUGGING RUBBER DUCK)
There is a legend that Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike that originated in a computer college – Teddy Bear, also known as Rubber Duck.
Students were required to sit in front of a teddy bear and explain the errors to him before looking for a teacher or someone “alive”. Believe it or not, this purification technique is so effective and is spread throughout the software engineering world and is still used today.
The important part about this method is to explain the code and problem aloud, simply and clearly. Causing the speaker himself has an “outside” view of the problem and in most cases find the solution themselves.
Some programmers exchange the teddy bear for a “rubber duck”. A similar and useful technique is to keep a daily schedule where the impressions of the code are recorded before and after implementation.
Practical advice and real examples in C, C ++, Java and other languages, ‘The Practice of Programming’ shows that developers should evaluate options, choose between design alternatives, debug, test, improve performance and upgrade the writing software for them and by others.
10) MAKE THE PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION
The software documentation describes the system features that are available to users. Write documentation of greater comprehension and understanding of the system as a whole. And this can often help to indicate solutions to bugs and errors of the program.
These 10 tips can greatly help developers to create code and programs more efficiently, and with a better speed. Minimizing or even eliminating bugs and errors that occur during encoding.
