Always comment your code
Commenting your code is a great way for you to not only help solidify what you’re writing in your head, but it makes your code so much clearer for you and anyone else who may be reading your code. Of course you don’t always have to document every line, but documenting lines that you find difficult to remember is a good practice to keep.
Document your methods/functions
Documenting your methods is a great way to keep track of what methods do what - create a doc-box above them and list the name of the method, what arguments it takes, what it returns, and the purpose it serves to the program. This can also serve as a quick reference so you don’t have to dig through your paper and find out what it’s supposed to do.
Develop your own style of coding
When you first start coding, you may end up with code everywhere - Brackets in weird places, inconsistent spaces between parentheses, etc… Over time, you should start developing your own style of coding that is yours. Decide how you like to type your brackets, how you like your parentheses to look, your general variable naming style, etc… It makes your code so much easier to look at and read.
Know the official website for the language you’re working in
If the code you are writing has an official website, use it! Languages like C++, Android, Java, and a ton of others have a website that has an extensive dictionary of libraries available to you and how to use them. Some of them even have example programs that you can use to help you. I keep all of mine in a bookmark folder.
Experiment on your own
If you look below, you’ll notice my tip #4 for assignments - Don’t over-complicate your code. This is best saved for your own experimenting, so do it! In your down time, learn new techniques and new ways to optimize your code to the best it can be. Doing this in your own time is the best way to do it, as you don’t jeopardize any of your points if your code ends up not being able to work or if the teacher is extremely to-the-book on their assignments.
Debug as you go
Debugging all at once sucks. You may get so far just to find out that your code is broken at the way beginning and that nothing else works. Instead, I suggest that you debug as you go to avoid the hours of debugging and possible re-writing at the end.
Take your time time reading the prompt
Nothing sucks more than finishing up the assignment after a week of coding than finding out that you completely skipped a crucial part of the program. If you need to, print out the prompt and highlight the crucial parts and make a note of anything else that you might forget.
Put document boxes at the top of your code
These are more of a preference, but I prefer to put document boxes at the top of each of my files. I normally put my school id, name, assignment #, file name, and purpose of the file at the top of every file. This helps me remember what file is supposed to do what and keeps my code clean and keeps my programming time shorter.
Make a list of your variables
Programming is one of those things that will frustrate the heck out of you at times. You will spend days trying to debug one thing, just to go in to the TA to find out that you missed a semi-colon or you misspelled a variable. My recommendation: Make a list of variables that are used globally as well as which ones are used privately in their respective files. You can either do this in a doc-box or you can use old-fashioned pen and paper. I also put what the variable is used for and use the sheet for quick reference.
Don’t try to over-complicate your code
When you’re given an assignment, do only what the assignment says - don’t try to go above-and-beyond unless you’re told there’s extra credit or another incentive. This means; not using a switch when you’re specifically told to use if-else statements or anything else similar.
Visit your TA or teacher if you need help
They are there to help you - don’t just rely on stack overflow to teach you something that you don’t understand. Sure, you may be able to fix your code from that forum post, but do you actually understand it?
Pair programming is great if you do your own part
Don’t just rely on your partner to do everything while you get the grade. You won’t learn anything that way. Evenly split the work and code when you are both present. This will allow you both to learn how to do the program and prepare you both for the exam to come. Pair programming is a great way to get a more real-world experience, as many projects in the real-world are done in groups or teams. ** Pair programming may not be available for you, ask your professor first **
Do your own code
Aside from pair programming, do your own code. Do not rely on git hub to have the old assignments from years past and do not rely on your friends to write your code for you. Copying code from online is not only plagiarism which can earn you a 0 in the assignments, but some schools even have a strict policy where you can fail out of the class for plagiarizing. It also does not help you to learn the material.
