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I have been working on a list for a while that helps me share the why of programming approach and thought as much as how to do something.
For this, I wanted to build a list of things that are:
best practice,
best thought,
best approach...
that help a programmer's ability to analyze, think, approach, solve and implement in the most effective way.
I have seen dozens of incredibly valuable comments in questions throughout Stack Overflow, but I couldn't find a place where we keep them together. There is the most controversial opinion on Stack Overflow. However, I'm just looking for sagely insights that can be shared and help my team, and I approach and solve problems better through better programming.
Hopefully this can be one place to gather the one or two liners that are concise, profound and easy to share, repeat, review. If we keep it to one rule per answer it might be easiest to vote up/down.
I'll start with the first.
DRY - Don't Repeat Yourself - In code, comments or documentation.
Always leave the code a little better than when you found it.
Code does not exist until entered into a versioning control system.
Don't be afraid to admit "I don't know" and ask.
10 minutes asking someone could save a day pulling your hair out!
KISS - Keep it simple, stupid.
Pick the simplest solution that works.
Don't make things (too) complicated before they need to be.
Just because everyone else is using some complicated framework to solve their problem, doesn't mean you have to.
Don't reinvent the wheel
If there ought to be a function for it in the core library - there probably is.
Maintainability is important.
Write code as if the person who will end up maintaining it is crazy and knows where you live.
Someone else won't fix it.
If a problem comes to your attention, take ownership long enough to ensure it will be taken care of one way or another.
Don't optimize unless there's a demonstrable problem.
Most of the time when people try to optimize code before it's been proved necessary, they'll spend a lot of resources, make the code harder to read and maintain, and achieve no noticeable effect. Sometimes they'll even make it worse.
"We should forget about small efficiencies, say about 97% of the time: premature optimization is the root of all evil."
- Donald Knuth
How hard can it be?
Don't let any problem intimidate you.
Don't Gather Requirements -- Dig for Them
Requirements rarely lie on the surface. They're buried deep beneath layers of assumptions, misconceptions, and politics
via The Pragmatic Programmer
Follow the SOLID principles:
Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)
There should never be more than one reason for a class to change.
Open-Closed Principle (OCP)
Software entities (classes, modules, functions, etc.)
should be open for extension, but closed for
modification.
Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP)
Functions that use pointers or references to base
classes must be able to use objects of derived classes
without knowing it.
Interface Segregation Principle (ISP)
Clients should not be forced to depend upon interfaces
that they do not use.
Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP)
A. High level modules should not depend upon low
level modules. Both should depend upon abstractions.
B. Abstractions should not depend upon details. Details
should depend upon abstractions.
Best Practice: Use your brain
Don't follow any trend/principle/pattern without thinking about it
I think almost everything that is listed under "The Zen of Python" applies for every "Rules of Programming Mindset" list. Start with 'python -c "import this"':
The Zen of Python, by Tim Peters
Beautiful is better than ugly.
Explicit is better than implicit.
Simple is better than complex.
Complex is better than complicated.
Flat is better than nested.
Sparse is better than dense.
Readability counts.
Special cases aren't special enough to break the rules.
Although practicality beats purity.
Errors should never pass silently.
Unless explicitly silenced.
In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess.
There should be one-- and preferably only one --obvious way to do it.
Although that way may not be obvious at first unless you're Dutch.
Now is better than never.
Although never is often better than right now.
If the implementation is hard to explain, it's a bad idea.
If the implementation is easy to explain, it may be a good idea.
Namespaces are one honking great idea -- let's do more of those!
Test Driven Development (TDD) makes coders sleep better at night
Just to clarify: Some people seem to think TDD is just an incompetent coder's way of limping from A to B without borking everything up too much, and that if you know what you're doing, that means there is no need for (unit) testing methodologies. That completely misses the point of Test Driven Development. TDD is about three (update: apparently four) things:
Refactoring magic. Having a full set of tests means you can make otherwise insane refactoring stunts, juggling the entire structure of your application without missing even one of the two hundred crazy subtle side effects that result from it. Even the best programmers are reluctant to refactor their core classes and interfaces without good (unit) test coverage, because it's damn near impossible to track down all the little 'ripple effects' it causes without them.
Detecting pitfalls early. If you are writing tests the right way, it means forcing yourself to consider all the fringe cases. Often, this leads to better design choices once the actual development begins, because the coder has already considered some of the trickier situations that may call for a different inheritance structure or a more flexible design pattern. The need for these changes is often not apparent - or intuitive - during initial planning and analysis, but those exact changes can make the application much easier to extend and maintain down the line.
Ensuring that tests get written. TDD requires you to write the tests before writing the code. Sure, that can be a pain in the ass, since writing tests is tedious compared to writing actual code - and often takes longer, too. However, doing so is the only way to make sure the tests will be written at all. If you think you'll remember to write the tests once the code is done, you're almost always wrong.
Forcing you to write better code. Since TDD forces all code to be testable (you don't write code before there is a test for it), it requires you write more decoupled code so that you can test the components in isolation. So TDD forces you to write better code. (Thanks, Esko)
Google before you ask your colleague and interrupt his coding.
Less code is better than more, as long as it makes more sense than lots of code.
Habits of the lazy coder
The first time you are asked to do something, do it (right).
The second time you are asked to do it, make a tool that does it automatically.
And the third time, if the tool doesn't cut it, design a domain specific language for generating more tools.
(not to be taken too seriously)
Be a Catalyst for Change
You can't force change on people. Instead, show them how the future might be and help them participate in creating it.
via The Pragmatic Programmer
Don't Panic When Debugging
Take a deep breath and THINK! about what could be causing the bug.
via The Pragmatic Programmer
You may copy and paste to get it working, but you may not leave it that way.
Duplicated code is an intermediate step, not a final product.
It's Both What You Say and the Way You Say It
There's no point in having great ideas if you don't communicate them effectively.
via The Pragmatic Programmer
Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live.
From: Coding Horror
Build Breaker Buys Lunch
Publish Early, Publish Often
Build it correct first. Make it fast second.
Frequently conduct code reviews
Code review and consequently refactoring is an ongoing task. Here is a few goodies about code review in my opinion:
It improves code quality.
It helps refactor reusable codes into reusable libraries.
It helps you learn from your fellow developers.
It helps you learn from your mistakes and refresh your memory about a genius code you have written before.
Anything that could affect how the application runs should be treated as code, and that means putting it in version control. Especially build scripts and database schema and data (.sql) files.
Take part in open source development
If you are using open source code in your projects, remember to post your bugfixes and improvements back to the community. It's not a development best practice per se, but it's definitely a programmer mindset to strive for.
Understand the tools you use
Don't use a pattern until you've understood why you're using it; don't use a tool without knowing why; don't rely on your framework or language designer always being right for your situation, but also don't assume they're wrong until proven to be!
Convention over Configuration
Especially where conventions are strong and some flexibility can be sacrificed.
This question is not coming from a programmer. (obviously) I currently have a programmer making a website for me and I am realizing that he isn't going to completely work out.
He has already done quite a bit of work and the site is almost there but I need someone who is better to take it the rest of way. The site has been done in asp.net and I am wondering how hard it would be for a more experienced programmer to take over and finish the work he has already done?
In general, is it hard for an asp.net programmer to come in towards the end of a project and fix what needs to be fixed?
There is five different pages on the site with two overlays for a signup and sign in. (Five pages with many different versions) There is a database and client-side scripting. AJAX was also used. It's a site somewhat similar to SO only not quite as complex and about something completly different. I would say think of something that falls somewhere between Stackoverflow and Craig's List. Thats all I can say now as I don't know the technical words.
You'll probably find that the new programmer will want to rewrite most of the code from scratch. If you are on a tight deadline or tight budget and can't accept a complete rewrite then you will need to hire someone that is not just good at writing good code, but good at reading, refactoring and improving bad code. It is two completely different skillsets and the second is much rarer. Depending on the quality of the existing code (and I'm assuming here that it is not good), your new programmer may end up rewriting much of the existing codebase just to understand what is going on.
Depends on how good the previous programmer was and on the complexity of the project. It might be anything between trivial (well commented source, some high-level docs, unit tests, modular or simple project), to "this crap needs a complete rewrite" (no docs, custom "let's try this" solutions, etc.). If you're not a developer it might be really hard to tell. And other people won't be able to answer without more details.
I'm no asp.net expert, but I suspect the ease with which the replacement will be able to finish the project will depend mostly on just how bad a job the first programmer actaully did. Bad code is painful to fix in any language. :)
A good idea will be to have them work together,for say, a week or two. This will help the new programmer get some much needed training about your current system.
You may find that although the site is almost complete, the successor will have to spend more time than anticipated when performing alterations, as this person will have the mental model of the software that the current developer has. Hence the need to next developer to "re-write" the code base.
If you can, you'll want to ensure that the code base that you have built is maintainable. That is, the solution is built in such a way that it can support alterations easily. As Mark Byers suggested, you'll want to get someone who can not only program but can also re-work your existing code with the goal being that someone else will inevitably implement future changes. If the software is something that you need to keep working for an extended period you'll want to make the investment in making sure that it new functionality can be added easily.
Remember this experience described at The Daily WTF. Take appropriate precautions.
Generally if the site is set up in some sort of standard fashion then another programmer should be able to pick it up easily. if the existing programmer did things to obscure the code then it will be hard for another programmer to pick it up. Basically the question is how readable is the code?
If the current programmer is unwilling to communicate the true status of the project in a professional, non-technical manner, then give him an ultimatum - your way or the highway. Odds are he will be more forthcoming if he knows you mean business. Make sure you have a copy of the latest code before broaching the subject.
It sounds like you are going to end up hiring someone else anyway, especially if you're asking these kinds of questions at this stage, so you might as well go for broke.
As Mark Byers said, it takes a seasoned developer to take someone else's code and resist the urge to "pretty it up" in order to bring the project to a working conclusion!
For various common reasons I wanted to use tracing for my ASP.NET application. Especially since I found out about the possibility to use the Service Trace Viewer tool which allows you to examine your traces in a powerful way.
Since I had never used this trace thing before, I started stuying it. After a while of Google, SO and MSDN I finally have a good idea of how things work. But I also found one very distrubing thing.
When using trace in ASP.NET applications it makes a lot of sense to group the trace messages together by web requests. Especially since one of the reasons I want to use it is for studying performance problems. The above mentioned tool also supports this by using <Corrleation> tags in the generated XML files. Which in turn come from System.Diagnostics.Trace.CorrelationManager. It also allows other nice features like Activity starting/stopping, which provides an even better grouping of trace messages. Cool, right?
I though so too, until I started inspecting where the CorrelationManager actually lived. After all - it was a static property. After some playing around with Reflector I found out something horrifying - it's stored in CallContext! Which is the kind of thing we shouldn't be using in ASP.NET, right?
So... am I missing something here? Is tracing really fundamentally flawed in ASP.NET?
Added: Emm, I'm kinda on the verge of rewriting this stuff myself. I still want to use the neat tool for exploring the traces. Any reason I shouldn't do this? Perhaps there is something better yet? It would be really nice if I got some answers soon. :)
Added 2: A colleague of mine confirmed that this is not just a theoretical issue. He has observed this in the system he's working on. So it's settled. I'm going to build a new little system that does things just the way I want it to. :)
Added 3: Wow, cool... the guys at Microsoft couldn't find anything wrong with using Correlation Manager in ASP.NET. So apparently we're not getting a fix for this bug after all...
You raise a very interesting question. After looking at Reflector, I also see that CorrelationManager is using the CallContext to store the activity id. I have not worked with tracing much, so I can't really speak on behalf of what types of activities it tracks, but if it tracks a single activity across the entire life cycle of a page request, per the article you referenced above, there is a possibility that the activity id could become disassociated with the actual activity. This activity would appear to die halfway through.
HttpContext would seem ideal for tracking an entire page request from beginning to finish, since it will be carried over even if the execution changes to a different thread. However, the HttpContext will not be transferred to your business objects, where as the CallContext would. On a side note, I saw that CallContext can also be transferred when using remoting between client and server apps which is pretty nifty, but in the case of tracking the website, this would not really be all that useful.
If you haven't already, check out this guy's site. The issue described in this article isn't specifically the same issue that Cup(Of T) article mentioned, but it's still pretty interesting. He also provides several very informative links on the page that describe components of the CorrelateionManager.
Unfortunately, I don't really have an answer to your question, but I definitely find the topic interesting and will continue looking into it. So please update this post as you learn more. I'm curious to see what you or others (hopefully someone out there can shed some light on the topic) find while looking into this.
Anyway, good luck. I'll talk to some of the peeps at my work about this and post more later if I find anything.
Chris
OK, so this is how it ended.
My colleague called Microsoft and reported this bug to them. Being certified partners means we get access to some more prioritized fixing queue or something... don't know that stuff. Anyway, they're working on it. Hopefully we'll see a patch soon. :)
In the mean time I've created my own little tracing class. It doesn't support all the bells and whistles that the default trace framework does, but it's just what I need. :) More specifically:
It writes to the same XML format as the default XmlWriterTraceListener so I can use the tool to analyze the logs.
It has a built in log rotation - something my colleague had to do himself on top of XmlWriterTraceListener.
The actual logging is deferred to another thread so performance can be measured more accurately.
Correlations are now stored in HttpContext.Items so ASP.NET threading peculiarities don't affect it.
Happy end, I hope. :)
I need to be able to contribute to a relatively large Adobe AIR project and I'm starting from scratch with this technology. What's the best way to go about it?
I usually get a good book/tutorial and work my way through it but this time it seems there's just too much to learn for this to be feasible within a reasonable time frame. I would need books on Actionscript, FLEX, etc...
Do you know of any good resources that might be useful for this particular case?
How would you go about it if you were in my shoes?
I just had to do something similar. If you can afford it (or, get your company to pay for it), try doing a training class. I did one by Figleaf software a couple months ago and it really helped.
As for books, I hear the Essential Actionscript 3 book is good (I have the one for AS2 and it's quite good). Flex is really just the SDK. You'll be doing most of your work in AS3 and MXML.
Another really good thing to do is download the SDK and start playing with it. Think of a couple small apps to do, then write them in Flex. I did this at work (wrote a couple util Apps in Flex to learn it). I find the best way to learn is to do it, and the SDK is free so there shouldn't be anything stopping you.
Hello World for AIR, then progressively add detail.
Aggressively use any communities out there.
Blog about your experience. One day you will help someone else.
Today you are learning, tomorrow you are teaching.
I download samples from the Internet, and run them, mess with them, try to change them and understand how they work.
I subscribe to blogs on the topic and do samples, try to understan the stuff people write about.
And I do samples :)
So I basically learn from the top - down. First I get the general sense of the technology, and then I drill down with the samples to the parts that I find interesting. Works pretty well. :)
I usually find online tutorials are the best way to go. They are more to the point than books, so it's usually quicker to get up to speed. And don't limit yourself to a single resource. I've never had problems finding enough tutorials through our friend google.
I have no knowledge about Adobe AIR though. I assume your customer knows you're a noob too? ;D
I'm a big advocate of active learning, which is described in detail, here. Essentially, when you are trying to learn a new technology: read about it, discuss it with your peers, teach it to people who are even newer to the technology, and most importantly, get your hands dirty.
A perfect example of how you can learn new things is by getting involved with a community such as stackoverflow, or a discussion forum based around what you would like to learn (http://www.adobe.com/devnet/air/), or even by contributing to an open-source project.
Of course, none of the above is as effective as trying new things out. In order to learn new technologies (in my honest opinon), it is best to dive in "head-first" and try things out.