Originally published on ℳontegasppα And Giulia C.’S Thoughts.
Excuse my lack of modesty, but I’m pretty good at what I do. I’m not even close to the best though, but I’m way above average. It’s due to what I’ve learned over more than 20 years of work experience, and I’d like to share some of the simpler and more efficient tips I got.
Affection
Don’t fall in love with technology and, even more important, don’t get attached to your code.
The code you wrote is NOT your son – neither your boyfriend, nor your girlfriend, nor your mother, nor whatelse. Your code is a by-product of turning coffee into shit, a “stuff.” And just like many stuff, it’s meant to be used, not loved.
Look at your code as a necessary evil to be discarded as soon as it’s no longer needed.
Do the same facing technologies: programming languages, frameworks, engines, and even methodologies are tools, not rules. Use them wisely, discard each one when you can.
Design
Avoid writing code. Design it first.
Of course you can prospect by coding, however discard it when you head the final code, keep only the cleanest one.
My current job is to find value by just deleting code, and I have virtually implemented features by deleting code!
How is it possible?
Imagine a TV that isn’t working. It’s plugged to an adapter… which is plugged to another adapter… which is plugged to a third one! The last one is plugged to an extension. Than you look at that, remove the adapters, and plug the TV electrical connector directly to the extension, and voilà! The TV magically turns on!
That’s pretty much what I’ve been doing, but why?
Because people don’t design. They simply write random code like typing monkeys, hoping something will eventually work.
It leads us to the next topic.
Rely but don’t trust
Use methodologies, but don’t let methodologies use you.
Rely on TDD, TDD, SOLID, DDD, CDD, AOP, ADT, but always revisit the concepts and adapt them to your real-world needs.
Conformism
Never ever be fully satisfied by yourself. I never know enough, I’m always looking for the next subject or getting deeper in something I’ve learned, so you should too.
Those are the tips I have for you today.
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