Introduction
Writing code that is scalable, effective, and clean is what every developer aspires to.
In this article, I’ll explore 10 underrated programming practices that can elevate your work, whether you’re debugging, scaling, or deploying.
Whether you're debugging, growing, or delivering, these ten underappreciated programming techniques can improve your work.
Let's find the treasures you could be overlooking!
1. Defensive Programming: Build Resilient Code
" by Robert C. Martin
The goal of defensive programming is to write code that is ready for any eventuality. You may avoid crashes and make sure your program acts consistently by foreseeing edge circumstances and incorrect inputs.
i. Quick Tip: Always validate and sanitize all inputs—no matter the source.
ii. Why It’s Overlooked: It feels unnecessary until something breaks spectacularly.
*2. Comments That Explain the ‘Why’ *
, the key to effective commenting is to explain why a decision was made, not just what the code does.
i.Example:
According to Jez Humble and David Farley's
Event-driven systems enhance scalability and responsiveness, as Martin Kleppmann emphasizes in
Writing tests for situations that function as intended is simple, as Andrew Hunt and David Thomas show in
Refactoring is about designing for growth, not just about writing cleaner code. Martin Fowler's book Refactoring: Refactoring:
Make sure your database queries are optimized before adding more resources to a sluggish system. Markus Winand's
Dependency Injection (DI) allows you to develop loosely connected, modular programs by separating concerns. Mark Seemann's
You can concentrate on real code improvements by having automation handle the little things. Automating formatting and basic checks with programs like Prettier, ESLint, and Black speeds up the review process and guarantees consistency, claims David West's
Optimizing too soon can waste resources. Martin L. Abbott and Michael T. Fisher's book The Art of Scalability suggests profiling your application to find and address the most important bottlenecks first.
i. Tools to Try: Use Chrome DevTools or New Relic to monitor performance in real-time.
ii. Why It Works: Focused effort leads to measurable improvements.
Conclusion: Start Small, Scale Big
Mastering the fundamentals and using them consistently is what makes great programming, not sophisticated techniques. These ten techniques may appear insignificant, yet they have the power to completely transform your development process.
Try one now, and report back to me on how it alters your workflow. Do you have a secret treasure? Let's learn together by sharing it in the comments section!
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About the Author
Favour is an enthusiastic software developer and tech enthusiast that is committed to providing developers with useful information and creative approaches.
Fave specializes in producing material that connects technical know-how with real-world application, with a particular emphasis on demythologizing intricate ideas. Fave is researching cutting-edge technology to support developers in a constantly changing digital market when she isn't writing or coding.
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