Neweraofcoding

Posted on Jan 14

Major Issues During Software Development (And How to Solve Them Like a Pro)

#developer #productivity #softwaredevelopment

Software development is exciting… until it isn’t 😄
One day everything works perfectly, and the next day you’re stuck with:

bugs that appear “randomly”
build failures after a small change
merge conflicts
performance issues
unclear requirements
production incidents

The truth is: every developer faces these problems.
The difference between an average developer and a great one is how they handle them.

In this blog, we’ll explore the major issues developers face during development and the best practical ways to solve them.

✅ 1. Unclear Requirements (The #1 Root Cause of Rework)

🔥 The Issue

Sometimes you start coding, and midway you realize:

“What exactly should happen here?”
“What about edge cases?”
“Is this feature for all users or only admins?”

This leads to:
❌ rework
❌ delays
❌ wrong implementation

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Ask questions early
✔ Convert requirements into clear acceptance criteria
✔ Confirm with product/team before coding

📌 Best approach:
Write requirements in this format:

Given: user is logged in
When: user clicks “Pay Now”
Then: payment should succeed + invoice should be generated

✅ 2. Scope Creep (Feature Keeps Growing)

🔥 The Issue

You start building a “simple login page”…
and suddenly it becomes:

login + OTP
remember device
social login
captcha
audit logs

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Break work into phases (MVP → improvements)
✔ Maintain a clear “out of scope” list
✔ Use feature flags to release safely

📌 Best tip:

Always ship the smallest working version first.

✅ 3. Frequent Bugs and Debugging Chaos

🔥 The Issue

Bugs happen because of:

missing edge cases
wrong assumptions
poor error handling
inconsistent data

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Add unit tests for core logic
✔ Add logging for key flows
✔ Use proper error boundaries / global exception handling
✔ Reproduce bug reliably before fixing

📌 Debugging Pro Rule:

Don’t guess. Reproduce → isolate → fix → test → prevent.

✅ 4. Circular Dependencies & Tight Coupling

🔥 The Issue

When modules/services depend on each other, your code becomes:

hard to maintain
difficult to test
error-prone during build

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Separate responsibilities
✔ Extract shared logic into common modules
✔ Use interfaces/contracts
✔ Avoid “barrel exports” that cause hidden circular imports

📌 Best practice:

If two files depend on each other, you probably need a third file.

✅ 5. Poor Code Structure (Spaghetti Code)

🔥 The Issue

As the project grows:

files become huge
logic is repeated
no folder standards
everything becomes “quick fixes”

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Follow a clear architecture pattern:

Layered architecture
Clean architecture
Feature-based folder structure

✔ Refactor regularly (small refactors weekly)

📌 Best tip:

Don’t wait for “later” to refactor. Later never comes.

✅ 6. Merge Conflicts & Git Problems

🔥 The Issue

When multiple developers work together, you face:

merge conflicts
overwritten code
broken builds after merging

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Pull frequently
✔ Keep PRs small
✔ Use consistent formatting (Prettier)
✔ Follow branching strategy:

feature branches
PR review
protected main branch

📌 Golden Rule:

Smaller PR = fewer conflicts = faster merge.

✅ 7. Build & Dependency Issues

🔥 The Issue

You install a package and suddenly:

build fails
node_modules breaks
version mismatch happens

Common errors:

peer dependency conflicts
different node versions
lock file mismatch

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Use .nvmrc / .node-version
✔ Use lock files (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml)
✔ Keep dependencies updated but controlled
✔ Use CI checks to ensure reproducible builds

📌 Best practice:

If it works only on your machine, it’s not ready.

✅ 8. Performance Problems (Slow App, Slow API)

🔥 The Issue

Performance issues show up as:

slow page load
UI freezing
API delays
memory leaks

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Use profiling tools:

Chrome DevTools
Lighthouse
Backend APM tools

✔ Optimize:

lazy loading
caching
pagination
query optimization
avoid unnecessary re-renders

📌 Best tip:

Measure first, optimize second.

✅ 9. Poor Testing Culture

🔥 The Issue

Many teams skip testing due to deadlines, leading to:

frequent production bugs
fear of deployment
long QA cycles

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Automate testing gradually:

start with unit tests for critical logic
add integration tests for APIs
add smoke tests for deployment

✔ Add CI pipeline enforcement:

no merge without tests passing

📌 Best practice:

Testing is not extra work. It’s protection.

✅ 10. Deployment & Production Failures

🔥 The Issue

Even if staging works, production can fail due to:

environment variables
missing secrets
DB migrations
server config differences

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Always deploy via pipeline (no manual deployments)
✔ Use staging identical to production
✔ Use smoke testing after deployment
✔ Keep rollback plan ready
✔ Monitor logs + error rates

📌 Best deployment strategy:

Blue-Green deployment
Canary release
Feature flags

✅ 11. Communication Gaps in Teams

🔥 The Issue

Developers often struggle due to:

unclear ownership
no updates
misunderstandings
missing documentation

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Daily short updates (standup style)
✔ Use proper ticket descriptions
✔ Add documentation for major decisions
✔ Communicate blockers early

📌 Best habit:

If you’re stuck for 30 minutes, ask for help.

✅ 12. Time Management & Burnout

🔥 The Issue

Developers often face:

constant pressure
unrealistic deadlines
multitasking
mental fatigue

✅ How to Solve It

✔ Break tasks into small deliverables
✔ Estimate honestly
✔ Avoid context switching
✔ Take breaks and protect focus time

📌 Best productivity trick:

Deep work > long working hours.

🏁 Best Development Workflow to Avoid Most Issues

Here’s a practical workflow used by strong teams:

✅ Plan requirements clearly
✅ Break into small tasks
✅ Write clean modular code
✅ Add tests for key logic
✅ Use PR reviews
✅ CI pipeline checks everything
✅ Deploy to staging
✅ QA + regression testing
✅ Deploy to production safely
✅ Run smoke tests
✅ Monitor + rollback if needed