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Discussion on: Soft(er) skills that make you a better programmer

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Jason C. McDonald

Excellent summary! I make many of the same points in my other articles, but I love how you boiled it all down.

I would say, however, that "best practice" does not exist. Good practice is important, but there are three important things about it:

  1. Know it and follow it strictly until you have a good reason to depart.

  2. Don't let it become dogma. Adjust it as you learn more. Practices, standards, and methodologies exist for people, not the other way around.

  3. Good Practice for one project may be Bad Practice for another project, sometimes even in the same language or stack! Be ready to defend your practice in the scope of your own project, but don't assume it's the Answer To Everyone's Problems.

As I've said before, Best Practice cannot exist, because if it did, it would mean that there was One Great Solution To Every Problem Ever™, and the entire history of computer programming proves that premise ridiculous.