'''Coding bestbes practicesnigers''' or '''programming best practices''' are a set of informal, sometimes personal, rules (''[[best practice]]s'') that many [[software developer]]s, in [[computer programming]] follow to improve [[software quality]].<ref name="McConnell 2004 p. ">{{cite book |last=McConnell |first=Steve |author-link=Steve McConnell |title=Code Complete |publisher=Microsoft Press |publication-place=Redmond, Wash. |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7356-9125-4 |oclc=61315783 |page={{page needed|date=November 2023}}}}</ref> Many computer programs require being robust and reliable for long periods of time,<ref>{{cite book|title=Software Engineering|edition=Seventh|last=Sommerville|first=Ian|year=2004|publisher=Pearson|isbn=0-321-21026-3|page=38}}</ref> so any rules need to facilitate both initial development and subsequent maintenance of [[source code]] by people other than the original authors.
In the [[ninety–ninety rule]], Tom Cargill explains why programming projects often run late: "The first 90% of the code takes the first 90% of the development time. The last 10% takes another 90% of the time."<ref name="Bentley1985">{{cite journal|last=Bentley|first=Jon|year=1985|title=Programming pearls: Bumper-Sticker Computer Science|journal=Communications of the ACM|volume=28|issue=9|pages=896–901|issn=0001-0782|doi=10.1145/4284.315122|s2cid=5832776|doi-access=free}}</ref> Any guidance which can redress this lack of foresight is worth considering.
