How to Improve your Skills as a Programmer

post from http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-your-Skills-as-a-Programmer

This will give you a few hints and some help to becoming a better programmer. So read on and enjoy! Programming can be a lot of fun.

Gather complete requirements.

Take the time to write down what the end product needs to achieve. Clarity of thought at this stage will save a lot of time down the line.

Write an implementation plan (or model).

• For something small and self-contained, this might just be a basic flowchart or an equation.
• For larger projects, it helps to break it into modules and consider what job each module must do, how data gets passed between modules, and within each module how it will function.

Add Comments to your code.

Whenever you feel your code needs some explanation, drop some comments in. Each function should be preceded by 1-2 lines describing the arguments and what it returns

Use naming conventions for variables.

It will help you keep track of what type the variable is and also what it's purpose is. Although this means more typing than x = a + b * c, it will make your code easier to debug and maintain.

Organize your code.

Use visual structure to indicate code structure. i.e. indent a code block that sits within a conditional (if,else,...) or a loop (for,while,...) Also try putting spaces between a variable name and an operator such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and even the equal sign (myVariable = 2 + 2). As well as making the code more visually elegant, it makes it much easier to see the program flow at a glance.

Test

Start by testing it with inputs that you would typically expect. Then try inputs that arepossible but less common. This will flush out any hidden bugs. There is an art to testing and you will gradually build up your skills with practice.

Write your tests to always include the following:

• Extremes: zero and max for positive values, empty string, null for every parameter.

• Practice. Practice. Practice.
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• Be prepared for change.

In a realistic working environment, requirements change. However, the clearer you are at the start about the requirements and the clearer your implementation plan, the less likely those changes will be down to misunderstanding or "Ah, I hadn't thought of that" scenarios.You can take an active role in improving clarity of thinking by presenting your requirements document or your implementation plans before coding to ensure that what you are planning to create is actually what's been asked for.

Structure the project as a series of milestones with a demo for each block. Approach the programming one milestone at a time - the less you need to think about at any moment, the more likely you will think clearly.

• Start simple and work towards complexity.
  When programming something complex, it helps to get the simpler building blocks in place and working properly first.