Additionally, it shortens development cycles, lowers costs, and enhances user experience in general. Automated tools that evaluate the code in accordance with predetermined quality standards and produce a report with numerical scores are one popular method for assessing code quality.

Reasons why code quality is important

The experience of the end user is ultimately improved by creating high-quality code. Consumers can better understand the security and dependability of the software or program they are using by concentrating on writing high-quality code.

It is essential to write high-quality code that works properly because poor quality code can have an impact on user experience and satisfaction. Low-quality code can lead to vulnerabilities that expose software to cybersecurity threats, leading to bugs, functionality problems, and a reduction in the software’s dependability.

Here are some of the reasons why you should take code quality seriously.

• Increases code readability: Readability is crucial because it increases other developers’ understanding rates. Easy to read code is also simple to make better.
• High-quality code is more sustainable because it can last for years.
• Developers can transfer high-quality code much more easily because they only need to make minor adjustments.
• The business can rely on the original, high-quality source code rather than incurring additional costs to rewrite subpar code.

Here are the lesser-known ways you can improve code

Here are a few suggestions for enhancing code quality and end-user satisfaction that you may not have considered.

Bug Bounty

An organization may reward independent security researchers or ethical hackers for finding and reporting security flaws in their software or systems through a bug bounty program, which is an example of crowdsourced security testing. Organizations can encourage security researchers to identify and report security flaws before they are exploited by attackers by rewarding them for vulnerabilities.

Programs that offer bug bounty can enhance code quality in a number of ways:

• Bug bounty programs encourage security researchers to look for vulnerabilities in an organization’s systems or software. A more secure product may result from more security testing being conducted and of higher quality.
• Encourage responsible disclosure: Bug bounty programs encourage security researchers to notify organizations of vulnerabilities rather than making them public or selling them illegally. Organizations can do this to address vulnerabilities before attackers take advantage of them.
• Give organizations feedback on the quality of the code: Security researchers who take part in bug bounty programs can give organizations advice on how to develop more secure code in the future.

Auto Generated Documentation

As part of an automated development pipeline, code comments and metadata are used to generate automatic documentation. Typically, HTML, PDF, or other formats of documentation are produced using tools like Javadoc, Doxygen, and Sphinx that parse code comments and metadata.

There are several ways that auto-generated documentation can enhance code quality:

• Auto-generated documentation can give developers clear, concise descriptions of code functionality, which makes it simpler for them to comprehend the code and its intended use.
• Better code organization: Auto-generated documentation makes it simpler for developers to navigate and maintain the codebase by offering a clear hierarchy of classes, methods, and functions.
• Consistency: Automated documentation can guarantee consistency throughout the codebase, lowering the possibility of mistakes and misunderstandings.
• Auto-generated documentation can be used as a quality control tool, assisting programmers in identifying mistakes and omissions in their metadata and code comments.

Coding Conventions

To encourage consistency and readability, code should be written and formatted according to coding conventions, which are a set of rules and standards. They frequently deal with things like documentation, formatting, code structure, and naming conventions.

Developers can enhance code quality and make their code simpler to read and understand by adhering to coding conventions, which makes maintenance and modification simpler. Additionally, they aid in ensuring code consistency throughout a project or organization, which facilitates code segment integration and collaboration.

Coding conventions typically require the following components:

• Variables, functions, and classes have naming conventions.
• Code block indentation and formatting.
• Whitespace and comments are used to increase readability.
• Handling exceptions, mistakes, and input/ output guidelines.

Quality Gates

Software must adhere to a set of checkpoints or requirements known as quality gates in order to advance to the next stage of development. They are frequently employed in software development procedures to guarantee the software’s quality and readiness for release.

Quality gates can be automated or manually implemented, and they are frequently used after acceptance testing, integration testing for units, or unit testing during the development process. Metrics like code coverage, code quality, functionality, performance, and security may be included.

Quality gates allow development teams to identify problems earlier in the development process, reducing rework, saving time, and guaranteeing that the finished software product complies with the necessary quality standards.

Smart Code Snippets

Pre-written code fragments known as “smart code snippets” or “live templates” can be added to a code file with placeholders for variables or user-defined inputs. By reducing the amount of repetitive or boilerplate code developers must write and by offering contextual awareness and intelligence, they are intended to assist developers in writing code more effectively and efficiently.

Regular code snippets are static files that can be added whenever necessary. They frequently include pre-written templates or code blocks that can be altered to fit a particular use case.

Smart code snippets, on the other hand, are dynamic and can change to fit the written code’s context. A smart code snippet, for instance, might automatically fill in common code constructs based on the context of the code or include placeholders for variables that must be defined.

Wrap Up

Teams looking to adopt a new viewpoint on their development process can start with the five lesser-known methods to enhance code quality discussed in this article. Any software development project must succeed in order to achieve high code quality.

There are many tried-and-true techniques and best practices for enhancing code quality, but there are also some unconventional ones that can be surprisingly successful. Teams can discover new ways to enhance code quality and create more dependable, effective, and secure software by taking a creative and open-minded approach to software development.

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Let’s delve a bit more into this topic.

Readability

A readable code is just that – readable. This means that a person with basic knowledge in coding or software development, in general, can skim through the code and understand what it’s trying to do. Some good ways to ensure code readability are:

• Formatting – the code should be formatted in a way that allows a person to understand each line of the code in bite sized forms. Just like reading a book long sentences will leave the reader confused. This is the same when coding. If it is too long it becomes convoluted so you need to reread the line. IDE plugins like Prettier can help with this.
• Comments – blocks of code that are performing complex functions or taking assumptions into account might lead other coders to not be aware and should be documented with comments within the code itself. Code that is basic does not need to be commented but it is considered good practice to write comments in the form of pseudo-code before writing the code itself.
• Clear naming convention – ensure that the name of your methods, variables and other definitions are descriptive and easy to understand. This will make it easier for other people to interact with your code and even the author because your code will read like English. Programmers are usually in a rush to pick any variable name that comes in mind in order to move on quickly.
• Consistency – to build on the previous point, the whole naming method has to be consistent. Not only should formatting be consistent in accordance to latest standards but prefixes and suffixes should also follow convention.

Supporting Documents

A highly readable code is in line with best practices of the industry. However, in larger products, programs or apps, things are more likely to become complicated. In order to manage massive projects with moving parts, it is important to create supporting documents.

• API Documents – when building services, it is normal to assume that there are different aspects of the product interacting with them and other software engineers need to know how to interact with the services you have built without disturbing the code. This is where API documentation is useful. They document parameters the API call expects, keys, tokens and other forms of authentication information it will need and what the output should look like.
• Data Structure – data structure diagram or entity-relation diagram is essential when you’re building the architecture of the product and ensuring that resources are optimized from the resource standpoint. Being able to look back at tables, documents and their relationship can give you a bird’s eye view of the project and is crucial to ensure that the system is well built.
• Flow diagram – flow diagrams come in handy when there are complex algorithms that need to be built where several branches need to be split logically. For instance, you’re building a notification system. There are many things to consider when building a notification system such as does the user have the do-not-disturb mode on, did the user mute the channel etc. It is important that all scenarios are considered and coders should be able to understand the path the algorithm can take to achieve its final goal.

Why does it all matter?

Maintainability

One of the biggest advantages of having a clean well-documented code is that it gives coders the ability to maintain the code over a long period of time. Imagine building a product today and it needs to be supported for the next 10 years. The number of people that will work on the code will come and go and many of them will work with the code with little or no knowledge of the work completed.

We should always write code and support it with concise documentation so that the code can be read and understood by other coders down the road.

Scalability

If your product has a 10-year shelf-life it should be scalable in order to be successful. For a product to scale, the team or coder that wrote it needs to scale as well. In order for a product to be scalable the product’s code base and documentation needs to be strong in order for new coders and engineers to join the team and continue to build on the foundation previously laid before. They can only do this if they are able to understand what’s going on. A clean, readable and well documented code will enable new coders and engineers to do this.

A web application developer in Sydney can help you with the development of web and mobile applications for an enjoyable business experience. Boost your performance with tailor-made app solutions.

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Coding is not just about sales. However, it there is something that the 2 have in common: the idea that you can be successful while uplifting others around you.  This means that coding and philanthropy can intersect.

If you’re a coder and thinking of ways on how you can make the world a better place, you’re in the right page because we have suggestions for you.

Robotics

It was only a couple of decades ago that bionic limbs were the stuff of science fiction. Nowadays, people are getting fitted with robotic limbs. In fact, last year a man from Florida in the USA got fitted with the first mind controlled robotic arm.

Prosthetics have advanced greatly over the last few decades and what was science fiction is now reality. This is thanks in part to coding. Coding has made it possible for the computers in the arm to interpret brain signals enabling the man to move his robotic limbs independently.

There are many scientific applications for coding and programming. In microbiology, chemistry, engineering and many other fields, programmers are helping make imagination become reality that impacts life in a positive way.

Hopefully, coders and programmers of the future can find the answer to world problems like disease, conflict and world hunger.

Environment Conservation

Debates about the environment and climate change are getting heated nowadays. Fortunately there are technological advances that can help mitigate the devastating effect of climate change in our lives. For instance, there are better tracking systems for weather nowadays. It can accurately predict not only flooding but storm surges as well.

There are also developments in sustainable energy and emission tracking software. Coding is also helping promote the earth’s survival and wildlife. There is now artificial intelligence that helps to track animals and document their growth, deforestation is now being tracked along with poaching and other illegal environment activities.

Charity Coding

Ever heard of Hackathon? It’s an event where computer programmers, software developers, graphic artists, web designers and other IT related professionals convene to solve real world problems through coding.

Starting in the 1990’s, Hackathons were aimed at developing new products or solutions to existing problems. It wasn’t long until organizers realized that these events were more than just about sales. Many non-profit organizations don’t have the funds to fix their tech problems. Hackathons and other charity coding activities can help give back to organizations that are focused on helping others.

Coders and Programmers at Creativ Digital can help you find the right web design and development solutions.  

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Students from all over the world can take part in Computer Science Education Week and the Hour of Code conducted by Google. There are a variety of coding challenges through super cool activities so that everybody can learn to code even though they have no prior knowledge.

The best part is that learners of all ages in more than 30 languages can participate. Teachers and parents can organize this learning activity for their kids to teach them the fundamentals of programming using different starter projects.

Activities in Hour Of Code are self-guided so that students can learn at their own pace. Students from all over the world have already spent over 100 million hours of code during the Computer Science Education Week.

There is also an unplugged version so that learners can still continue to learn the basics of coding without any device. Students who complete activities will receive certificates and badges.

Learning to code is important because jobs in the computer science field are rapidly increasing and there aren’t enough people with the required skills to fill up positions.

The main idea of Google’s Hour of Code is to give people the opportunity to learn coding skills no matter the age or career they are pursuing.

If you want to learn coding or want to help somebody learn, check out the curriculum now.

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Check out some our suggestions below.

JustInMind

A good prototyping tool should allow users to validate designs early in the design phase. This is because feedback early in the development stage is more beneficial. JustInMind is a great tool if you’re looking for this type of value.

It is an all-in-one tool that gives you everything you need to show clients, project managers and teams. It tells them exactly how a design is progressing and any problems that need to be fixed or improved.

The best thing is that coding knowledge is not necessary when using JustInMind. It has over 4,000 premade UI templates including gestures, transitions and interactions. It’s like an extended software solution that you use for testing and development.

Supernova

Some of the best prototyping tools have features that allow you to speed up building as well as automating some or all of the routine tasks that are common in mobile app or web development. Tasks like export coding, file naming and exporting resources are typically associated with mobile app web development.

Supernova is a good tool for developers who are looking for these features. It can take you from design to high quality production quality code in minutes. Supernova converts Sketch into code for Android, iOS and Reactive platforms.

Savah App

Savah App is one of the best prototyping tools in the market thanks to features like integration with DropBox, Sketch and Google Drive. It is also an excellent collaboration and design driven tool that makes it easier to present designs and get approval.

Designing software usually requires a series of prototypes to gather useful feedback that can help speed up the work. Aside from collaboration and communication, Savah App allows you to make side-by-side comparisons of the different versions.

These 3 prototyping tools have unique features that can help speed up the design process. For developers it’s just a matter of picking the right tool for your project.

What do you think of these tools? Have you tried any of them? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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Take Pascal for instance. It was a powerhouse during the 70’s to the 80’s and was designed to teach the concepts of structured language. Pascal declined because programmers adopted C++ . Sure, there is still a number of diehard Pascal fans but its glory days are done.

One of the great things about programming is that once you learn how to do it, it is very easy to learn a new language. But which languages will be in-demand in the future?

Here’s a short view of what we think will be popular programming languages in the future.

Go

Go is an open language created by Google in 2007. It was designed to create simple and reliable apps quickly making it a good choice for minimal web applications.

The best thing about Go is that it has many features that can run concurrently with other functions and channels and allows them to communicate with each other on how best to complete a task. This means that Go can easily scale with ease.

Just like many Google tools, Go was built to be easy to understand. It is simple which is why it is one of the fastest growing programming languages during the last few years. This is a good choice to learn especially if you want to harness the power of the language that powers most of Google.

R

R has been around since 1995 but its popularity has spiked in recent years. R is used by Facebook, Google and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

R is an open-sourced language designed by statisticians and scientists. It was built for complex statistical analysis while being easily understandable to those without programming skills. This language is being used by corporations racing to cash in on big data since it allows statisticians to do complicated analyses without having to know about difficult programming languages and systems.

It is often described as a turbo charged Microsoft Excel.

Arduino

Arduino is an open-sourced electronic platform which includes a programmable circuit board (a.k.a Arduino board) and an IDE (integrated development environment) that’s used to write code for the board.

Arduino has been used to build robots, 3D printers, launch satellites and create musical instruments. It is accessible for students, beginners and hobbyists and advanced users. It is compatible with Windows, Linux and MacOSX.

Python

Python is one of the easiest languages to learn and is fun to work with. It resembles English so it’s very readable. This is why Python has replaced Java as a learning language and has become the most commonly taught language in the US.

Best of all, Python is adaptable so it can be used in web apps and data analysis. Websites like Instagram, NASA, Reddit and Pinterest use Python.

Swift

Swift was invented by Apple in 2014 but has gained enough traction to be a language of the future.

It was built for OS X and iOS developers and is tailored towards app creation. Best of all, it can be seamlessly incorporated into Objective-C so Swift can enhance existing apps.

If you know C++, Swift is easy to pick-up.

Do you know any of these languages? Which languages are you interested in learning? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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The truth is no matter how experienced you are, nerves and self-doubt can have devastating effects on your work or even during the interview. Many coders want to be more confident. Here are tips on how you can build self-confidence as a coder.

Practice Makes Perfect

One of the easiest ways to build self-confidence is through practice. You can only go so far with online tutorials so the next best thing you can do is to create something of your own. In many professional settings, there is no need to reinvent the wheel but it can be great learning experience.

Build in PHP or create a plugin through JavaScript. This will help you get an idea of how these things work so that you can gain confidence in pre-packed applications and plugins for your job.

Launch It

Now that you have created something, launch it. You now have knowledge based and you’ve practiced so it’s now time for the world to see it.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a website, app or plugin. Seeing people use something you’ve created in the real world is a big confidence booster. Yes, there might be bad feedback or perhaps you might need to fix some bugs but everything is a learning experience. As they say, fail fast and fail often.

Contribute on Github

Join Github and contribute as often as you can. Contributing projects on this open source site can help you gain confidence and experience. It is also a good tool for learning and getting feedback.

Contribution does not need to be a code. You can help modify a wiki or edit/update a documentation. This shows that you understand coding and know how to use it.

Teach

At some point, a colleague will ask for help regarding a project. Teaching somebody or being asked to troubleshoot somebody else’s work can be very intimidating. However, they probably won’t be approaching you if they thought that you didn’t know what to do.

Teaching can be a very good learning experience and great confidence booster. You might not solve problems immediately but it’s such a good feeling not only to help but also to right things.

Talk To Everyone

Talk to your colleagues or join groups on social media and talk about your experiences. Most of the time, you will find that other coders and developers have feelings of inadequacy too. However, the point of talking to other coders and developers is to learn from each other’s experiences and to find a sense of camaraderie. Knowing that there are other developers out there who feel the same way you do can help you move forward in your career and gain self-confidence.

Did you suffer from lack of coding confidence too? What did you do to increase your coding confidence? Tell us by leaving your comments below.

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