My friends would ask a lot of things about coding, ranging from where do I get ideas from to where to start.
And my answer is simple, I want to make things easier by doing something difficult.
Is programming hard? Yes. I won't put a false impression that it's easy. Programming is hard, brain-melting activity.
Although there are ways to make it easier, it's works with any discipline/field in life. It requires constant motivation, practice, and direction.
Toolkit
Over the years, I've made mistakes. I was made to believe that there's only one source of truth and you need to follow rules.
It isn't. You don't need to follow what's hype or what's trending. It's OK to use tools that isn't too shiny, but is still handy.
Google is your friend, there's a lot of blogs, comparison sites, and alternatives-to site to find which tools fits your needs—and not which is famous.
Coding Styles
Yes, you must adhere to language-specific best practices. There's no question to that.
Yet, you are fully allowed to make your own coding style. You can design your own repo structure, but I prefer this one. You can choose a procedural or OOP—or a mix of both.
Choose what best fits your needs, projects and environment, but the general rule is don't make it complicated.
Templates
Let your recent project be a tool to make your next project easier. Make libs, bins, and templates so your next project will be easier to build.
Create wrappers to API that parse and process data into usable formats. Make a UI generator. Make a code generator. Coding is limitless, you can make a code that make another code, build the code, and run the code.
Coding Process
1. Scrutinize an idea. Define what you want. Think of what do you want to make, what features are important to make a Minimum Viable Product and to evolve from there.
2. Prototype. Yes, this is important, will your idea work? How would you do it? What thingshave you overlooked?
3. Draw/Wireframe. Since I can draw, I prefer to draw how my project would look like and what screen* will it transition to after clicking/tapping/swiping/any events that user triggers.
4. Actual Coding. This is the longest part, you might need to stock on snacks, drinks, or any thing that you might need for the battle.
5. Test, run tests. Make sure your app is behaving as expected, debug as needed. Debug when required.
6. Git Push. Make this a habit. Don't do copy1, aaaa, finaaal, or finaal999. Test after a fix or a new code is added, and push often.
7. Learn to stop. Sometimes your project is already working (or not feasible), you must decide when to stop. Come back when it needs to, but move on to your next project when it's already completed.
Thoughts
Coding is hard, but it is also fun. You can always check StackOverflow for things that are bugging you.
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About Me
@oniemaniego is a test engineer, but outside work, he experiments in the kitchen, writes poetry and fiction, paints his heart out, or toils under the hot sun.
 | Onie Maniego was born in Leyte, PH. He grew up in a rural area with a close-knit community and a simple lifestyle, he is often visiting his father's orchards during summer and weekends, which has a great impact on his works. |
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