How Senior Programmers Actually Write Code

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How Senior Programmers Actually Write Code
How Senior Programmers Actually Write Code
Professional habits are what make the difference between someone writing code like a senior programmer and wishful thinking.

The syntax and templates you use on software projects don't matter as much as the standards of professionalism you uphold.

In this episode, I share the essential habits I've developed while working on almost every software project over the course of my career. If you want to write code like senior programmers do, I hope these practices help you stand out from the pack.

Before you form these habits, it's important to know why it's important to write high-quality code. It's not just so other programmers think you're cool ;).

WHY WRITE HIGH-QUALITY CODE?

First of all, you need other programmers to be able to read your code if they want to consider you senior. You've probably heard that programmers are often better at writing code than reading it. And if you want others on your team to treat you like a professional, you need to reject myths like "self-documenting code/" and treat your code like a personal brand.

Second, writing high-quality code will reduce the time you spend supporting and explaining it to other members of the software development team. Many programmers get frustrated having to explain their code to other team members. If your code is truly self-documenting, shouldn't that be the case?

Finally, writing code the way truly experienced programmers do will reduce the risk of someone coming in to rewrite it just because they like another coding model more. To increase your code's shelf life, having the habits and discipline to follow the 6 tips I'm about to share for writing code like a senior programmer will have a huge impact on how others perceive you and on your quality of life on software projects. .

6 TIPS FOR WRITING CODE LIKE A SENIOR PROGRAMMER

The first tip is to finish the code you start! There is immense pressure on some Scrum or Kanban projects to show progress, but if you haven't finished, don't lie! This just creates more personal technical debt that you'll be more stressed about having to complete later. If you don't want to let the code get out of hand, that's entirely up to you.

The second tip is to apply coding standards. If other programmers on your team have different preferences for how they like to format curly braces, spacing, or any other aspect of your code, it makes sharing code across the project frustrating. We now have the tools to do this automatically: use them!

The third tip is to be disciplined in documenting the models the team has agreed to use. You should definitely have a wiki topic or markdown file in your project that contains links to how to apply each major pattern on your project. If you do this, it reduces time wasted in code reviews and prevents people from introducing new patterns without a good reason to have a discussion before it spreads throughout the codebase.

The fourth tip is to review new coding patterns with your team as soon as you introduce them. Rather than replacing an existing pattern throughout the codebase (ask for forgiveness rather than permission), be strong with your teammates and be inclusive whenever you have something to show. They will likely have good advice on how to improve your usage, and you can get their buy-in and call on them to help with the whole refactoring effort.

The fifth tip is to NEVER expose refactoring as tasks, user stories or tickets in jira, github issues, trello, asana, visual studio online – or any other tool your team may use for tracking work. Any time a core engineering practice is brought up as a separate item, it only tempts management to remove it.

And the sixth and final tip is to always assume that there will be unexpected changes to the project for each task that you need to estimate. Whether it's unscheduled software design meetings, troubleshooting, or documentation, to write code like senior programmers actually do, you can't be forced to skimp on shortcuts. While we can't predict every possible uncertainty on a software project, if you think everything is going well, it's your fault.

#programming #coding #technology

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CHAPTER MARKERS

00:00 Presentation
0:25 Why the senior code is important
0h30 1. Understanding of the team
0:57 2. Reduce interruptions
1:28 3. Extend code longevity
2:10 6 habits of senior programmers
2:18 1. Prevent unfinished work
3:46 2. Apply coding standards
5:11 3. Document the chosen models
8:01 a.m. 4. Review new models early on
9:28 5. Never expose refactoring
11:16 6. Suppose an unexpected change
12:40 Groove of the episode
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https://jaymeedwards.com

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