Question

(TCOs A and B) Discuss why it is important to maintain good programming habits.

Answer 1

Answer:

Learning programming is fun and easy, but writing a good program can prove to be a daunting task. In most cases, we find ourselves constantly scratching our heads trying to understand the spaghetti code we wrote, or making lots of changes just because of a newly added minor feature.

These outcomes can bring down our confidence but in fact, they can be solved with proper development practices.

It is important to maintain good programming habits because the larger and more complicated the program, the need for good planning and design increases. Every program we write will be better if we plan before we code. If we maintain the habit of first drawing out our flowcharts or writing pseudocode, programming projects will go more smoothly. If we desk-check our program logic on paper before we start typing statements in a programming language, our program will run correctly much sooner and if we think about the variables and module names we use and design the program statements to be easy.

Here are 10 worthy habits to invest in to write cleaner and smarter code with less effort:

1. Write Human-Friendly Code

2. Think Organization

3. Planning Before Coding

4. Write Manageable Code

5. Stop Overdoing Features

6. Learn To Debug Smarter

7. Find A Stronger Editor

8. Do Version Control

9. No Extra Prototypes, Finish Current Project

10. Always Learn Something New

Thus, we conclude that,

No programmer can ever implement all of these suggestions 100% of the time. Not only does one reach a point of diminishing returns, but also there will always be areas that are open to interpretation, opinion, and individual style.

But just because perfection isn't achievable doesn't mean you shouldn't strive for it. In fact, the most important thing you can do is to identify the area(s) listed above where your program is most lacking and take steps to fix it. For example, your program might have excellent database handling routines but your variable names may be completely unintuitive.

Half the battle is figuring out (and admitting) where your program needs improvement; the other half of the battle is doing something about it.

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