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Aimen Zairi
Aimen Zairi

Posted on • Originally published at zairiaimen.com

7 Deadly Sins Of Programming

Programming is not always about writing code.

If you are a beginner programmer you might have fallen into one of these mistakes already but if you haven’t this is your opportunity to know then so you can avoid them.

In this blog post we will go through the 7 mistakes that you maybe making and how to avoid them.

1 – Writing Code before thinking

You are trying to solve a problem when writing code. Thinking about the solution is far more important than coding the solution.

That’s why most development companies write SRS (Software Requirement Specification) documents to turn the solution into a guideline that can be followed by Developers and Clients judge the results with it.

So before you learn to code, you should learn how to turn your software requirements into diagrams. These Diagrams are what’s going to help you develop your solution.

2 – Reinventing The Wheel

A Rule To Remember : Don't Repeat Yourself.

You should never re-write functionality that already exists.

Lets take a simple example here. Let’s say you have a blog project and you want to add a rich text editor to it. What should you do?. so the obvious answer is to get a library or a package that contains this editor.

Avoiding this is very easy and it’s by learning how to write extensible and reusable code.

3 - Not Using Search Engines And Stack Overflow

This is a common mistake for beginners that have only recently joined the world of programming.

This is definitely the biggest mistake you can make. There isn’t a single programmer that doesn’t use stack overflow and google on a daily basis.

Don’t be ashamed to ask if you don’t find what you are looking for.There are always people out there Trying to help ;) .

4 – Not Using a Proper IDE

It all depends on your technology of choice. But there is no denying that using a good IDE can help massively.

Personally, i work with .NET so using Visual Studio is the obvious choice. VS Provides all the features that i need to improve my code in every way.

For you it might be different you might be working with JS or Java ... etc, So you have to choose what helps you write faster. As nowadays Writing Speed is way more important than execution speed (A Topic For Another Day )

5 – Not Documenting The Code

It’s One thing to write code, but another thing to read it again after a few months, no even a few days.

It’s very frustrating for both you and people that read your code.

So the next time you write code use patterns, use comments and always use good naming (Check Out The Previous Post : If The Code Works Don't Fix It ).

6 - Always Seeking New Technology

Jumping over to new technologies without thinking about the consequences.

Don’t be a “jack of all trades, master of none”. Choose a technology that is proven in the field. Master it.

Don’t be fooled by all the buzz, even if a technology seems popular always stick to the basics.

7 - Being Afraid To Touch Existing Code

I’m guilty of this one myself. Whenever i opened some GitHub code i felt overwhelmed with the amount of code, the way they write it and having multiple projects.

But once i learned how to read and write clean code it has changed my point of view completely.

Don’t be afraid to read code or even modify it if you feel like your modifications can improve it.

8 - Believing There are Only 7 Deadly Sins

Share What You Think is a deadly sin in the comments down bellow.

9 - Not Supporting Your Fellow Developers

This is a just joke

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