5 good programming habits that will change the way you code forever

A close-up of the cuneiform inscription — Bisotun, Iran

1. Make your code as readable as a book
   - Use long, descriptive names.
   - Divide the code into logical subroutines.
   - Keep it simple when possible — there are no points for complicated one liner solutions.
2. Follow three steps in this order:
   - First, make it work.
   - Then make it right.
   - Then make it fast and beautiful.
3. Spend a lot of time reading and understanding a complex piece of code you might be interacting with
   - Jumping to code when you do not understand what is happening around will almost always result in an inefficient solution.
   - You will end up saving time.
4. Use debuggers extensively
   - Understand input fast: put a breakpoint, play around with methods on your input.
   - Sandbox: Quickly implement a solution in the watch/console section instead of rerunning the whole program.
   - Debug: Understand the state of the program and fix it up.
5. Write tests, a lot
   - It’s better to fail early and fix the problem than fail in production.
   - Every time you refactor, change, or add to your code, your tests will make sure you did not regress.

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