Coding best practices: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:18, 15 March 2008

Revision as of 20:40, 28 March 2008

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'''Best coding practices''' can be broken into many levels based on the coding language, the platform, the target environment and so forth. Using [[best practicespractice]]s for a given situation greatly reduces the probability of introducing errors into your [[Application software|applications]], regardless of which [[software development]] model is being used to create that application.

There are standards that originated from the intensive study of industry experts who analyzed how bugs were generated when code was written and correlated these bugs to specific coding practices. They took these correlations between bugs and coding practices and came up with a set of rules that when used prevented coding errors from occurring. These standard practices offer incredible value to software development organizations because they are pre-packaged automated error prevention practices; they close the feedback loop between a bug and what must be done to prevent that bug from recurring.

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== Architecture ==

{{main|Software architecture}}

Choosing the appropriate [[Software architecture|architecture]] for your application is key. You have to know what you are building on before you can start a project. Check the architecture of the target. Read as much as you can about the ins and outs of the platform and note any pitfalls before you start your code. It will go a long way to heading off any bugs that might be 'show stoppers' later on.<ref name="bcp"/>

== Design ==

Even if you feel great about knowing the architecture of your target platform without a good design you are going to be sunk. Try not to fall into the trap though of over-designing the application. The two basic principles are to "Keep it Simple" and to utilize information hiding (Don't show the user more than they need to see). Often this is where [[OOObject-oriented Analysisanalysis and design|object-oriented analysis]] and [[Unified Modeling Language|UML]] comescome in. Do an internet search on UML and you'll find dozens of articles on using it.<ref name="bcp"/>

== Code Building ==

Building the code is really just a small part of the total project effort even though it's what most people equate with the whole process since it's the most visible. Other pieces equally or even more important include what we have already gone over above namely [[requirements]], [[architecture]], [[Analysis of algorithms|analysis]], [[design]], and [[Software testing|testing]]. A best practice for building code involves daily builds and testing.<ref name="bcp"/>

== Peer review==

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== Testing ==

{{main|Software testing}}

Testing is an integral part of software development that needs to be planned. It is also important that testing is done proactively; meaning that test cases are planned before coding starts, and test cases are developed while the application is being designed and coded.<ref name="bcp"/>

== Deployment ==

{{main|Software deployment}}

Deployment is the final stage of releasing an application for users.<ref name="bcp"/>