Four Software Development Best Practices to Raise the Bar on Your App’s Quality

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate right now. Many believe that we are more than just enthusiasts for technology; instead, we are living, breathing examples of this “never sleeps” society. As a consequence, ongoing technological advancements—particularly in the field of software development—have completely changed the way we live.

Take a look at how many applications you have on your phone right now, for instance. How many apps could you live without? One of the “superpowers” of software engineering is this, and the trend indicates that the amount of software we use on a daily basis will only rise. Hence, it is an enormous obligation of software developers to provide high-quality software in addition to functionality.

Even if it’s subjective and dependent on the person’s viewpoint, the concept of quality control impacts the creation of robust, long-lasting applications that provide more value to users and have a higher return on investment (particularly in light of the rapid advancements in technology).

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As a result, it should go without saying that using best practices in your software development will maximize its advantages, which include increased resource efficiency, durability, and agility. These procedures aid in preserving your software’s quality. Above all, I believe that despite its quirks, software engineering is quite comparable to other fields in many ways.

In the culinary arts, for instance, “chefs” often do not begin their employment with knowledge of best practices, such as the fact that frozen goods should always be defrosted inside of a refrigerator rather than outside.

My goal in using this example is not to teach you best practices in the kitchen (though you already knew that, didn’t you? ) but rather to demonstrate that mastering excellent practices in any field takes time. It requires a great deal of work, perseverance, and, most importantly, learning to master ideas and apply them in daily life.

All of this highlights the basic truth that humans are used to “bad practices” more often than their “good” counterparts because we place a greater emphasis on behaviors that will likely result in a quicker and simpler outcome. However, these so-called “best practices” don’t always provide benefits right away; most of the time, the additional work is well worth it.

It’s not true that best practices are a “silver bullet” for software development; otherwise, new issues and best practices would always emerge on a daily basis, wouldn’t they? But allow me to take a little break. In software development, there are, in fact, “mandatory” processes in place already.

In this post, I’ll walk you through four software development best practices that will assist you in maintaining a high standard for your app’s quality and resolving frequent problems, just as they have helped the software development community and myself.

1. Clear Code

A set of best practices for developing software known as “clean code” involves using a number of strategies to facilitate the writing and reading of code, making it more straightforward to understand and maintain. The first Clean Code concepts were published in August 2008 in Robert Cecil Martin’s (also known as Uncle Bob) book Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship.

With a little over 38 years of development experience under his belt, Uncle Bob noticed in 2008 that the biggest challenge in software development was maintenance; he based this on the idea that software is never fully finished because changes, like updates and new features, will inevitably occur and necessitate increasingly “clean” code.

By incorporating the concepts of clean code into your daily work, you may reduce the complexity and maintenance of your web app development, which will save you time, money, and effort. In particular, the cost would be high if your program lacked any of these features.

Among the methods used in clean code are:

Scout Rule: You should incorporate this idea into your code of conduct. One of the primary tenets of “Scout Law” is always to leave a place cleaner than when you found it. Write your own code. Better than the code you were given, write your own. Your app will only grow better over time if you and the other team members adopt this guideline as a “lifestyle.”

Keep It Stupid, or KISS Simple: It’s crucial to keep things simple. We tend to overcomplicate things as we get older—the proverbial “killing an ant with a sledgehammer”—when there may be a far easier fix.

Error handling: To make sure the program performs as intended, you must be able to manage exceptions or impediments that may arise, including the notorious “errors” that may (and will) occur inside your application.

Nomenclature: Whether it’s for classes, attributes, functions, files, etc., knowing the nomenclature you use in your code is crucial to a solid grasp of programming. Never forget that software development terminology has to be impartial and unambiguous at all times.

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2. Examining

Software testing is essential to guaranteeing that your software is under quality control. The purpose of testing is to confirm that the software is “behaving” as intended and to validate it in various circumstances. Testing must ensure that all planned criteria are being fulfilled, paying attention to pathways that may involve exceptions to the rule in addition to the most successful one.

Testing allows you to ensure that the criteria are being fulfilled by tracking logs with known issues, bug reports, potential enhancements, and metrics.

Among the benefits of testing are:

Verifies that all prerequisites are fulfilled
fosters confidence between the user and the participating teams
ensures the completion of the project
aids in system upkeep
finds flaws and mistakes before clients do
Types of tests:

The variety of tests and methods for administering them is infinite. Depending on the kind of validation you plan to utilize for your project, they will be executed differently.

As an illustration:

Unit Examination

Integration Examination

Functional Examination

Test of Positive-Negative

Test of Regression

Test in Black Box

White Box Examination

Operational Examination

Test of Interface

Performance Evaluation

Test of Loading

Test of Volume

Stress Exam

Test of Configuration

Test of Compatibility

Test of Installation and Uninstallation

Test of Security

#3. Code refactoring

Code refactoring is the process of enhancing the underlying structure and design of the program while making (often minor) modifications to the exterior behavior; in other words, it’s about altering the “how” rather than the “what”. The notion that refactoring shouldn’t add or delete functionality is a crucial aspect.

Through refactoring, the software may become robust and adapt to new changes over time, allowing the project code to evolve alongside the product as it grows.

The benefits of refactoring a project include easier-to-understand code, code that adapts to changes over time, simple testing, issues that are simple to locate and solve, less duplicate code, and even fewer comments in the project.

While restructuring has several advantages, corporations are not entirely convinced of its benefits. Something along the lines of “we have new features to develop, when will we refactor?” Refactoring takes time and money. It’s important to note, however, that refactoring is never a waste of effort since, if your code is well maintainable, it will save you time.

If the essential refactoring is not done now, it might cause an issue later on and cost more to fix. Thus, begin considering it now rather than delaying it till tomorrow.

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4. Evaluation of Code

Code review is the process of continuously improving software code. This procedure often starts after a fresh commit or software modification.

It’s crucial to read over any new modifications made to the app’s code in order to comprehend the changes and spot any issues that can arise. Code review is also a great way to identify mistakes that slipped through the testing process.

This procedure is initially handled by a separate developer from the one who authored the new code. A code review typically takes 15 to 30 minutes, but this might vary depending on the scope and intricacy of the modification.

Following up on comments, it’s critical to highlight the good aspects, respond to the criticism, and provide recommendations for addressing the issues raised. It’s also critical to realize that the aim of the code review is to execute high-quality work as a team, not to target individual critics.

Hints on crafting an excellent code review

Make use of checklists.
Be alert for any new dangers.
Blend human and automated tasks; provide “quiet” time for reviews; cooperate.
Give precise feedback.

Code review fixes defects and errors beforehand, preventing inconsistent software from reaching the end-user or the production phase. Additional advantages of code review include finding areas for improvement, exchanging information between teams, providing many approaches to an issue, and enhancing teamwork.

In summary

In this post, I’ve covered four programming recommended practices that raise the quality of software. Not to be overlooked are the many other industry standards, including Clean Architecture, the SOLID principles (often used in the OO paradigm), code reuse, pattern documentation, Design Patterns, and more.

Using programming best practices in your daily work will benefit everyone: the development team, the end user, and the organization where you work. At Linkitsoft, Good software isn’t only functional; it also doesn’t need a lot of money to maintain after it’s launched.