Clean Coding Practice

Clean coding-practices from Wakaleo Consulting

Tips on how to write a clean and meaningful code

Tip: Names for variables and methods/functions
Tip: Comments may be misleading
Tip: Separate method/function for each task
Tip: Separate classes if possible
Tip: Don't repeat yourself
Tip: Handle the exceptions
Tip: As few arguments for functions as possible
Tip: Leave SOME whitespace

http://compiledk.blogspot.tw/2012/12/writing-clean-and-understandable-code.html

20 Kick-ass programming quotes

1. “There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult.”
- C.A.R. Hoare (British computer scientist, winner of the 1980 Turing Award)

2. “If debugging is the process of removing software bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.”
- Edsger Dijkstra (Dutch computer scientist, winner of the 1972 Turing Award)

3. “Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.”
- Bill Gates (co-founder of Microsoft)

4. “Nine people can’t make a baby in a month.” (regarding the addition of more programmers to get a project completed faster)
- Fred Brooks (American computer scientist, winner of the 1999 Turing Award)

5. “Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”
- Brian W. Kernighan (Canadian computer scientist, co-author of “C programming language”)

6. “Always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live.”
- Martin Golding

7. “C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot; C++ makes it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg.”
- Bjarne Stroustrup (Danish computer scientist, developer of the C++ programming language)

8. “When debugging, novices insert corrective code; experts remove defective code.”
- Richard Pattis

9. “Computer science education cannot make anybody an expert programmer any more than studying brushes and pigment can make somebody an expert painter.”
- Eric S. Raymond (American programmer, open source software advocate, author of “The Cathedral and the Bazaar”)

10. “Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.”
- Linus Torvalds (Finnish American, software engineer and hacker, principal force behind the development of the Linux kernel)

11. “Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.”
- Rich Cook

12. “Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.”
- Martin Fowler (author and speaker on software development)

13. “Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, ‘How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?’”
- Steve McConnell (author of many software engineering books including “Code Complete”)

14. “The problem with using C++ … is that there’s already a strong tendency in the language to require you to know everything before you can do anything.”
- Larry Wall (developer of the Perl language)

15. “People think that computer science is the art of geniuses but the actual reality is the opposite, just many people doing things that build on each other, like a wall of mini stones.”
- Donald Knuth (computer scientist)

16. “One of my most productive days was throwing away 1000 lines of code.”
- Ken Thompson (computer scientist, early developer of UNIX OS)

17. “Most software today is very much like an Egyptian pyramid with millions of bricks piled on top of each other, with no structural integrity, but just done by brute force and thousands of slaves.”
- Alan Kay (American computer scientist)

18. “Before software can be reusable it first has to be usable.”
- Ralph Johnson (computer scientist)

19. “Programming is like sex. One mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life.”
- Michael Sinz

20) “If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along wound destroy civilization.”
- Gerald Weinberg (American computer scientist)

http://www.javacodegeeks.com/2012/11/20-kick-ass-programming-quotes.html

Coding Guidelines for the Developer During Development

1)Do use the Transactions in long running queries and many small-small queries

2)DON’T Use SELECT *

3)Avoid explicit or implicit functions in WHERE clauses

4) Avoid long actions in triggers if using

5) Use temporary tables and table variables appropriately

6)As a good rule of thumb try to replace all sub queries with joins

7)Order of Tables in Join Conditions.

8)Loop optimization

9)Parameter sniffing

10)Can use Fixed Index Hint while using the conditions

11)Size the data type wisely in the SP during declaration.

12)Efficient use of MAXDOP setting within query.

13)GROUPING SETS in SQL 2008

14)Always use the With rowlock, with no lock where occurring deadlocks.

15)Use Update From Rather than simply Update

16) UNION ALL instead of UNION

17) Avoid expensive operators such as NOT LIKE


http://phpflow.com/misc/coding-guidelines-for-the-developer-during-development/

如果你的薪水是別人給你的，你就是可以被取代的

理財專家給薪水族的忠告：如果你需要拿錢回家養家，那麼一定要遵守。如果有人養你，則另當別論。

記得以前有位同事離職前多拉了幾個人走，以為會對公司的業務造成影響，經我觀察的結果做了結論：完全沒有影響，缺人找人，頂多資深員工辛苦點，對公司來說，「所有員工在職時都很重要，離職後都不重要」，沒有一個員工是非留不可的，這似乎就是職場常態。

近20年以來，我長時間在美台兩地以理財專家的立埸談理財，幫助客戶及社會大眾做好理財。我常強調做好理財的目的是錢盡其用，讓錢發揮最大的效用，一個相關的重要原則就是凡事講究划算。

我覺得以這樣的現實觀點來看工作，和我倡議的『回到蠻荒』觀點倒是有相通的地方，那就是不做徒勞無功的事，或沒有成果的事。蠻荒的動物都能秉持這樣的原則工作。所以依現實的原則看工作，現代人工作的目的應該只是為了能賺錢，除此以外無他。

以下是探討這類觀點的專家所提供的一些工作原則，不妨做為參考：

原則1：工作真的只是一份工作

不要期待工作與生活能兼顧，事實上也沒幾個人能將工作與生活成功的整合起來，工作並不是生活，我們工作是為了要過生活，或保有自己所喜歡的生活。想想看，你一天或一個禮拜能有多少時間和家人相處，或和親朋好友去做一些你喜歡做的事，就可以知道要兼顧工作與生活是不可能的。

工作只是工作，目的是為了賺錢。錢只是一個工具，讓您換得食物、衣服、車子、房子、休閒育樂…換得「成就」…而「成就感」必須從個人所做的學習與事物中得到價值和肯定..


原則2：不要害怕換工作

工作既是為了賺錢，只要可能賺更多錢，或做起來更愉快、更有滿足感，何妨就換工作？而且，以這樣的原則換工作，收入當然會越換越多，跳槽可能也會變得稀鬆平常。要每次工作時都全力以赴，有稱職的表現，對雇主和業界都能交代，應該隨時可以找到下一個工作機會。但站在生涯規劃的觀點，要思考的不只是下一份工作，而是下下一份工作在哪裡。其如果已經三十歲以上，更應該將目標放在提早規劃四十歲以後的人生，就會知道自己該做好什麼準備。


原則3：一鳥在手勝過十鳥在林 

很多公司都聲稱他們有優渥的福利制度，包括退休金計劃。可是不斷有事實告訴我們，越來越多的人在屆滿退休之前就失去工作了。所以爭取眼前的福利可能更實際，比較值得期待，例如包括健康醫療保障在內的團體保險、托嬰照顧、親職休假、績效獎金的分發，增加加班費或年終獎金等等。

更值得思考的是---這份工作你能做多少，或是說---老闆會讓你做多久？然後呢？


原則4：謀生本事不厭其多

新世紀的工作與收入可能會變得不穩定，產業的興衰或輪替也會變得快速無比，在同一家企業內辛苦一輩子可能會以失業收場。所以橫向拓展各方面的技能，會比縱向的在企業的組織內向上攀爬追求位高權重還要實際。

其實現在已有不少企業也『學會』了一些聰明的技巧，對授予好聽的高階職位並不吝惜，可以讓你擁有耀眼的頭銜，但對薪資增加並沒有多大幫助。與其追求這種虛名，不如讓自己能具備十八般武藝可以多方面賺錢，隨時跳槽。
充實自己的技能讓自己無可替代，或者在風險控管下，掌握機會自己創業，才是M型社會生存王道！


原則5：做好份內工作就回家去

再提醒你，工作只是工作，公司少了你一個人的工作，照樣可以運轉下去。踏實的學習你的工作所該具備的技能，努力做好你的工作，但不要奢望你可以憑一己之力多為公司創造多少業績或產能。

不要因此耗掉你大量的私人時間，讓自己從盲目工作中抽離出來。記住，做好自己份內的工作，然後回家去。說真的，在老闆的眼中，你真的沒有那麼重要！面對現實吧！


原則6：遠離辦公室政治

你工作的目的是為賺取合理的收入，而不是追求虛名與權位，所以不用在心思在辦公室政治上。當紅炸子雞可能因改朝換代而去職走路，被冰凍的失志衰老也可能鹹魚翻身。與其耗費時間介入這些無意義的辦公室鬥爭，不如多花時間在自己的家庭。好好為自己的人生規劃準備才是最重要的。

10種不跟也罷的老闆

1. 別跟那些沒有個人生活的老闆
2. 別跟那些總是遷怒於你的老闆
3. 別跟那些總是扮演搞笑角色的老闆
4. 別跟總是掙扎求生的老闆
5. 別跟那些總是誇誇其談的老闆
6. 別跟那些總是和你爭的老闆
7. 避免那些總是說個不停的老闆
8. 別跟那些總是忙忙碌碌的老闆
9. 別跟那些沉迷於聲色犬馬的老闆
10. 別跟那些能活吃了你的老闆

http://www.life.com.tw/index.php?act=view&news_no=7322&t=1348128394

8 Common Code Violations in Java

1. Format source code and Organize imports in Eclipse
2. Avoid multiple returns (exit points) in methods
3. Simplify if-else methods
4. Do not create new instances of Boolean, Integer or String
5. Name public static final fields in UPPERCASE
6. Combine multiple if statements into one
7. switch should have default
8. Avoid duplicate string literals, instead create a constant

http://www.dzone.com/links/r/8_common_code_violations_in_java.html

Best Practices to Make Life Easier for the Programmer

Constants
Should you ever need a variable that is not changing over time (or in many cases just one time), you should use constants. Constants are quick-to-find variables and they help you minimize memory usage.

Configurations
The term ‘configuration’ means variables that are used a lot and rarely change but can be changed in the middle of execution, if needed. Constants can be made as configurations if it can be changed in the middle of execution. Otherwise, leave it as a constant.

Access Control
So many programmers don’t care about access-level modifiers. If you need broader access, use protected and, as a last resort, public access. This way you can protect your specific method or member from the ‘outside world’.

Comments
Comments let you remember code snippets, algorithms, sort methods, even randomized numbers you’ve created before. This is a big advantage if you’re working on a team. Because of comments, other people will understand your intentions.


http://architects.dzone.com/articles/do-not-delete-common

青年拒絕窮忙！主管最浪費員工的７大症狀

1. 在不同專案間調動人力，或不斷換人處理專案。
2. 缺乏適當規劃所造成的浪費。
3. 每次救火都會產生浪費。
4. 超時加班導致浪費。
5. 當專案變調或取消，就會產生浪費。
6. 士氣低落所導致的浪費。
7. 多工也會造成浪費。


http://topic.cw.com.tw/500/magic-1.aspx

7 Application Deployment Best Practices

1. Keep the installation structure SIMPLE. 
2. Always get rid of old files. 
3. Automate it 
4. Don’t over do it with the symlinks
5. Delete everything first. 
6. Have a roll back strategy.
7. Don’t make changes to your deploy mechanism or deploy scripts between deploying to different environments. 

http://java.dzone.com/articles/7-application-deployment-best

Top 7 programmers bad habits

1. The all code is crap, except mine, attitude.
2. The “I fix that in a second” catastrophe.
3. The “That will only take a second” misconception.
4. The ego spiral.
5. “It wasn’t me!”
6. The demotivated genius.
7. The premature programmer.

http://www.dzone.com/links/r/top_7_programmers_bad_habits.html

10 project management lessons from the Titanic disaster

1: You need to know what you’re measuring
Frederick Brook says, milestones should be objectively measurable. If you do not have valid measurements for your project, you will run into problems.


2: Assumptions can kill you
Maybe we assumed that a particular system was using a newer software release than it actually was. 
Maybe we assumed that another department would take care of ordering cable.
Maybe we assumed that the vendor received our critical email message. 
Assumptions are important in your work, but if you proceed on the basis of them, make sure everyone is clear about what assumptions you are making.


3: Distractions are dangerous
If enough members of your team encounter enough distractions, your project will gradually fall behind.


4: Little things add up
The small delays are just as critical as the large ones, meaning that adherence to milestones is critical to the success of a project.


5: Stakeholders should be kept informed
Our stakeholders need to know about the status and progress of your project. Keeping them informed will keep them happier.


6: Other people’s perspectives matter
If a client asks a question, try to see beyond the question itself to the motivation behind the question. 
If a technical person is explaining a function of a system or program, make sure the explanation avoids jargon. 
Clear communication will lead to happier clients.


7: Moving targets can hurt you
Any change is rarely “small.” Rather, it typically involves changes to other parts of a system, results in greater complexity, and requires more testing.


8: Traceability is essential
How familiar are you with the strategic objectives of your company? 
Can you find a logical connection between the requirements of your project and those strategic objectives? 


9: Methodology is more important than technology
You might want to use sophisticated planning and tracking software and tools. 
More important, though, is that your plan be solid. 
The best software in the world will not save a poorly designed plan.


10: Documentation may have lasting benefits
Documentation is often the most important part of the project because it may exist long after the project team has disbanded.


http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-project-management-lessons-from-the-titanic-disaster/3174

Becoming A Better Developer

• Motivation
• If you’re not growing, you’re dying…
• Confidence
• Good developers are usually quite confident in their abilities. Why? Because they know that they have put in the effort to truly understand what they are talking about. Be confident in what you know.
• Choose Concepts Over Implementations
• If you understand the concepts, that enables two things. 
• First, you can use those concepts in other languages with ease. But far more importantly it lets you think abstractly about different ways to solve a problem. 
• It also lets you learn from other communities. So rather than waiting for somebody else to solve a problem in your language, or looking for help in your language, you can look anywhere for help. 
• Read At Least One Book per Week (well~it's very difficult for me >_<)
• There are two main things that you’ll benefit from with this approach. 
• First, by reading actual books, you’ll focus on exploring a concept in depth.
• The second advantage to the one-book-per-week approach is that it will make you push your boundaries. 
• Share Your Knowledge
• The best way to learn is to teach.
• Become a Mentor
• The important thing is to look at the mistakes they are making and help them to understand why they are making the mistake. The obvious benefit here is that you are “paying back” the community and investing in the future of the industry.

For complete information : http://blog.ircmaxell.com/2011/11/becoming-better-developer.html

Project Manager and Subject Matter Expert

對於project manager這個角色，到底需不需要有技術能力，一直是常在爭論的議題。
這篇文章倒是給了一個不錯的答案：『有會更好』


他提到了，如果是technical project manager可以帶來幾個好處

1. 遇到問題的時候，他更能掌握問題的難度，更能掌握要花多少時間來解決這個問題，對於時程的掌握會更踏實
2. 你對於你的團隊更有同理心，因為你知道問題的難度。project manager總是想急著解決問題，常會脫口而出：『這個問題有這麼難嗎？有需要這麼久嗎？』
3. 由於你有技術的底子，對於某些問題，若有過往的經驗，可以更快找出解決方案，並帶了團隊走向正確的方向，避免花額外的時間去做trial and error

以下是摘錄全文中的部分：

• Scope and Schedule – If you have a background in the project you are managing it becomes much easier to understand what the project is trying to accomplish.  This helps you in defining the scope of the project and setting the schedule.  You will know roughly how long it takes to build a server, install a circuit, or design a network.
• Empathy – If you understand the work, it makes it much easier to empathize with the team.  I have built some strong relationships with the network engineers I work with, because they think of me as one of them and not just another project manager.  A project manager should never under estimate the value of relationships.
• Misinformation and Solutions – You will have a much better sense of when you are getting the wrong information and be able to contribute to solutions.
• Ramp Up – Most projects start life underfunded and behind schedule.  It is an unfortunate fact of life for project managers.  If you know the subject matter, you will spend more time focused on the project than trying to understand it.  This will save you significant precise time.

全文請看：http://www.cerebellumstrategies.com/project-manager-expert/

5 Reasons Why Software Quality Matters to your Business

Predictability
Do it once and do it right, and there will be less re-work, less variation in productivity and better performance overall.


Reputation
Some companies have a reputation for building quality software. 
A good, solid reputation is hard to establish and easy to lose, but when your company has it, it’s a powerful business driver. 


Employee Morale
The most productive and happy employees have pride in their work. Enabling employees to build quality software will drive a much higher level of morale and productivity.


Customer Satisfaction
A quality product satisfies the customer. A satisfied customer comes back for more and provides positive referrals. 


Bottom Line
Predictable and productive performance, a stellar reputation, happy employees, and satisfied customers are the formula for a successful software business.


http://blog.smartbear.com/post/12-04-03/5-reasons-why-software-quality-matters-to-your-business/

12 Ways to Become a Better Programmer

1. Read Other People’s Code
Reading other people’s code will allow you to understand different points of view in problem solving as well as introduce you to new techniques. It is important to have an objective to your reading, such as learning a new programming paradigm or how to work with a new API. 


2. Develop Personal Motivation
Being motivated to become better at your chosen profession is an excellent step in the right direction.


3. Get a Mentor
This should be a person that you aspire to be like professionally, that has a background that you can relate to and that you have a lot to learn from. 


4. Learn to Listen
Learn to listen to what the customer has to say, listen to your coworkers when they are discussing the project. Don’t assume that what you think is really what they want. 


5. Gain Confidence
Why are good programmers so confident? They know they have put in the time and effort necessary to truly understand what they are talking about. This knowledge enables them to make the best decisions and be able to discuss or defend them in a productive way when needed. 


6. Join a User Group
hese groups are usually structured around two concepts: teaching and networking. Not only will you be able to learn something new at each monthly presentation but you will gain valuable contacts in your industry that could later lead to internships, jobs or mentors.


7. Read at Least Two Books a Month
By reading books you will be focusing and exploring a concept in depth as opposed to “grazing” on information such as blogs, tweets and other online reading that rarely goes in-depth on a topic. This way, you will be better able to take these lessons and concepts and apply them to the real world.


8. Learn to Use Your Debugger
For some programmers, finding bugs means you did not spend enough time planning or that you have been sloppy during your code writing. Errors in your code should not be taken personally. Humans will continue to make mistakes and that is something we have to accept. Stop looking at your debugger as an evil you need to avoid and see it as a tool you can use to create better code.

9. Never Stop Learning
Over the years the continuous pattern of framework upgrades, version numbers and release dates start to run together but you must keep your skills up to date by evaluating new technology and trends as they are happening. 


10. Share Your Knowledge
The best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.


11. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
For programmer this means knowing how to type quickly and accurately as well as know your way around keyboard shortcuts that will make you a faster developer.


12. Learn When to Take a Break
When working on a task such as programming that requires concentration, you will often find that you are making more mistakes or creating more problems when you are tired. Stopping programming is often a better solution when tired than having to fix the mess you made.


http://www.learncomputer.com/12-ways-to-become-better-programmer/

6 things they didn't teach me at the academy - Prepare yourself better for a developer's life

Looking for your first position in the software world? 
Want to know more about developer's life?
Here present you with 6 essential points that will help you in your upcoming venture:

• Understanding the structure of a software company: in most cases there will be a distinction between Developers, QA's/Testers, Support, Product and IT. Understanding this structure beforehand will help a candidate understand the job description he is interviewing for.
• Development Methodologies: Waterfall or Scrum, Agile or not,
• Code Management tools and processes: code repository tools, Continuous Build , Integration Test, Issue tracking systems
• Coding guidelines. 
• IDE usage.
• Utilizing the power of open source. 

Reference: http://developer4life.blogspot.com/2012/03/6-things-they-didnt-teach-me-at-academy.html

15 Tenets For The Software Engineer

• Remember the basics : If you forget the basics of a programming language, you lose your foundational knowledge. 
• Always assume the worst case. 
• Test your code. 
• Do not employ new technologies because they are new, use them because they solve a problem : Utility is the key, not coolness.
• Read, a lot.
• Try new techniques and technologies, a lot. 
• Fail, you will learn something. 
• Ship the damn software : Sometimes you just need to get the job done, but you must be aware of technical debt. If you continuously just ship software without removing technical debt, you are well on your way to creating a nightmare when a major production issue arises.
• Do it the “right way”. 
• Leave the code better than how you found it. 
• Think about concurrent access. 
• Storage may be free, but I/O sucks. 
• Memory does not go as far as you may think. 
• Caching fixes everything until it crashes the server. 
• Think like a consultant : As an employee, you need to use your power to state that the deadline can not move due to the amount of work required, or that scope cannot be increased without increasing the number of resources. Consultants tend to be allowed to manage a project differently than employees, and it is our job to change that.

Get further information:

http://www.javacodegeeks.com/2012/03/15-tenets-for-software-engineer.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JavaCodeGeeks+%28Java+Code+Geeks%29&utm_content=FaceBook&m=1

4 tips to improve performance of Java application with database

Java database performance tips 1:

Find out how many database calls you are making and minimize those believe it or not if you see performance in seconds than in most cases culprit is database access code. since connecting todatabase requires connections to be prepared, network round trip and processing on database side, its best to avoid databasecall if you can work with cached value. even if your application has quite dynamic data having a short time cache can save many database round trip which can boost your java applicationperformance by almost 20-50% based on how many calls got reduced. 

Java database performance tips 2:

Check whether your database has indexed on columns if you are reading from database.

Java database performance tips 3:

Use PreparedStatement or Stored Procedure for executing query Prepared Statements are much faster than normal Statement object as database can pre-compile them and also cache there query plan. 

Java database performance tips 4:

Use Connection Pool for holding Database Connections. 

Reference: http://javarevisited.blogspot.com/2012/01/improve-performance-java-database.html

5 Skills for Tech Leads

1) Development

You should be a developer, and a good one.

2) Release Management

Your main job is to resolve needs and roadblocks (not to make sure that people are following any methodology).

3) Product Management

Prioritize, that's all. Then, you just have to work on the most important tasks from your list (which will also be small ones if you did your homework). 

4) Recruiting

Learn how to test people inside your team.

5) Managing People

Be honest and helpful. 

http://blog.assembla.com/assemblablog/tabid/12618/bid/70857/5-Skills-for-Tech-Leads.aspx