We all are proud occupants of a digital generation, and in this age and time, if you wish to take your business to the desired heights, you need to have a digital presence. Gone are the days when products were bought from physical stores, and services were availed by visiting the service provider. Now, with just a few clicks on the web, your choice of product or service arrives at your doorstep hassle-free. So, if you run a business, it is the right time to move your business online by building a website. But not just any website would do; you must build a fully-functional one that can beat all its competitors and emerge at the top. While certain factors together ensure this, today we will discuss one of web development’s most key aspects – coding. To be more specific, our web design experts in Melbourne will be covering 10 tips for writing clean and maintainable code in web development.
Let’s get started!
Follow Coding Standards
Coding standards are guidelines and best practices that developers follow to ensure that their code is readable, consistent, and maintainable. They are typically documented in a style guide like the PHP FIG or JavaScript Standard Styler. Adhering to coding standards can help developers write better code and make it easier to maintain and modify over time. It also ensures that code is easier to understand by other developers who may need to work on the same codebase.
Coding standards typically cover a variety of aspects of code style, including but not limited to:
- Naming conventions
- Variable declarations
- Code indentation
- Formatting
Following coding standards also helps avoid common mistakes and improve the overall quality of the codebase by removing the likelihood of bugs and errors. Make sure to keep this in mind while engaging with web design in Newcastle.
Use Meaningful Names
Using meaningful names for variables, functions, and classes is an important aspect of writing clean and maintainable code.
- Meaningful names accurately describe the purpose and functionality of the code element, making them easier to read and understand.
- They should be concise but not overly abbreviated or cryptic to be easily recognisable and understandable.
- Using meaningful names for code elements helps make the code more self-documenting, reducing the need for extensive comments or documentation.
- It also makes it easier to modify and maintain the code over time since developers can quickly understand the purpose and functionality of the code elements.
Avoid Unnecessary Complexities
If your codes are unnecessarily complex, they will be hard to read, understand, and modify. To avoid such complexities:
- Write code that is simple and easy to understand by avoiding overly complex logic or convoluted control flow. Use familiar patterns and idioms whenever possible.
- Avoid nested loops, which can quickly become unwieldy and difficult to understand. To achieve the same result, consider using other techniques, such as array functions or recursion.
- Leverage existing libraries and frameworks whenever possible, as they are well-tested and optimised for performance and can simplify complex tasks.
- Don’t optimise your code prematurely. Focus on writing clear and understandable code first, and optimise only when performance becomes an issue.
- Refactor your code frequently to remove unnecessary complexity and improve readability.
- Break your code into smaller, more manageable pieces. Use functions and classes to encapsulate reusable logic and separate concerns into different modules or files.
Make Smart Use of White Space
White space refers to non-printing characters, such as spaces, tabs, and line breaks, that help make your code readable, maintainable, and less prone to errors.
Here are some tips for using white space effectively in code:
- Use indentation to indicate the structure of the code, as it makes the code easier to understand. Most coding styles recommend using either spaces or tabs for indentation.
- Use blank lines to separate logical sections of code, making your code easier to scan.
- Use consistent spacing between code elements. For example, use a single space between keywords and parentheses and no space between a function name and its parentheses.
- Avoid lengthy lines of code. Most coding styles recommend limiting line lengths to 80 or 120 characters. If a line is too long, consider breaking it into multiple lines.
- Use comments to explain the purpose and functionality of code elements. Use blank lines to separate comments from the code and indent comments to indicate their relationship to the code.
Test Your Code
By testing your code, you can catch bugs and errors early in the development process, saving time and effort in the long run.
Let’s look at some best practices for testing your code effectively:
- Start testing your codes in the development process itself. This can help catch bugs and errors early before they become more difficult and time-consuming to fix.
- Write automated tests that can be run automatically whenever changes are made to the codebase. This can help ensure that the code is always working as expected and catch regressions that might go unnoticed.
- Test all possible code paths, including edge cases and error conditions, to ensure the code behaves correctly in all scenarios.
- Test your code in different environments, such as browsers or operating systems, to ensure optimum functionality.
- Write tests that are easy to read and understand. Use descriptive test names and comments to explain the purpose and functionality of each test.
Our Web Design Services in Gold Coast For Codes Written to Perfection!
Writing codes is not easy, that expertise in the field is a must. If you lack the same and are looking for experts who can help you with web design in Newcastle or other suburbs, connect with us at Make My Website. Our web design services in Gold Coast will accommodate all your industry requirements and help develop the best website out there. Connect with us today.
