開源日報 每天推薦一個 GitHub 優質開源項目和一篇精選英文科技或編程文章原文，堅持閱讀《開源日報》，保持每日學習的好習慣。
今日推薦開源項目：《NTB nodetube》
今日推薦英文原文：《Tips to Improve Your Code Today》
今日推薦開源項目：《NTB nodetube》傳送門：GitHub鏈接
推薦理由：如果有一天 youtube 開源了……那現在當然不可能，最起碼現在只有夢裡才會這樣。既然沒有那就造一個吧，這個項目就是開源的 youtube 替代品，因為藉助了 Node.js 的力量，順手也把名字合起來，就成為了 nodetube。作為開源替代自然提供了不少方便的功能——比如說更方便的下載等等，可以期待它今後的發展。
今日推薦英文原文：《Tips to Improve Your Code Today》作者：Dhananjay Trivedi
原文鏈接：https://medium.com/better-programming/tips-to-improve-your-code-today-2c70b6af7a76
推薦理由：新的一年，新的 tips

Tips to Improve Your Code Today

Next steps for beginners looking to become a pro in 2020

Coding is a skill that needs refinement, you are not born a programmer. It』s just people who put in those thousands of hours to improve upon that as a skill.

You just can』t expect to become a great programmer if you only code during your 9-to-5 job. If you are a guitarist and the only time you play is during the concerts, you won』t be able to find new ways of adding value to your band as a guitarist.

Similarly, you, as a programmer, always need to find ways of doing things better, I am sure that is why you are here at Better Programming, so let』s get to it.

Pair Programming

This one is really cool.

According to Wikipedia:

Pair programming is an agile software development technique in which two programmers work together at one workstation. One, the driver, writes code while the other, the observer or navigator, reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The two programmers switch roles frequently.

Your peer and you both can learn from each other, you might know a way to optimize things while your peer might now how to write cleaner code, this way, you both compliment each other』s skills, get your work done, and learn from each other. Isn』t that cool?

It might be awkward at first but it』s fun, but find someone you want to pair with, you don』t have to do it with everyone.

Build Projects

This is fun.

Build an app for everything!

Build Twitter, Instagram, Tinder, or even Medium, that's totally up to you.

This way, you will get to learn how to implement certain complex features and get a better understanding of how things are being done in real-world apps that we all love.

Try Out Different Programming Tools

Your programming language is a tool too.

Be open to trying out the hottest programming languages of your time.

Build the same app with the new programming language you are trying out, whether it be Ruby, Go, Python, or Clojure. This way, you experience the pros and cons of various languages and advocate for them when needed.

That will be your biggest strength as a good programmer and one you can develop over time.

Strive for Code Readability

As a beginner, this is something you should definitely aim for. It doesn』t require many skills and gives good returns.

We, as beginners, try to jump into writing the highest performing code even without knowing all the tools that will help us achieve the same.

It』s good that you intend to write the most efficient programs but writing cleaner code will help you boost your efficiency as a programmer and your team』s and it doesn』t require much effort.

Don』t abbreviate variable, function, or class names. Use long, descriptive names that clearly explain what you want out of the function.

The following are some tips that you can implement right now to improve your code.

Be Careful With Comments

int b = 5;
int c = 4;// I am sure you are reading about comments after a long time
// the more comments I write here,
// the longer it will take for you 
// to read this codeblock and make sense of it.
// BTW, it's just a simple addition.int a = b + c;
We tend to comment-out code at times, thinking: 「I may come back and use it later」 and, most of the time, you don』t come back. That code sits there to haunt its victims.

When somebody else is reading your code, that commented-out code comes out of nowhere and slows down the reader. The reader/programmer can』t delete it thinking that it's important which is why it's there.

If comments are misleading, that is even worse! To know more about this, here is an interesting story about comments which is worth your time.

Do Just One Thing Right

Here, read this function. 
int addTwoNumbers(int a, int b) {
    displayToUser("Adding two numbers");
    setFontColorTo(Colors.RED);
    return a + b;
}
The function name is very innocent, addTwoNumbers, and when you read the name, what comes to mind?

It should just add two numbers, but when you see its implementation, it is doing a lot more than just adding two numbers which are hidden from the user at first.

This is a very common mistake we tend to make when writing our code. Functional programming teaches atomic functions which do one, and only one, thing.

This way, you are very clear with your code and don』t leave any room for bugs or surprises. Learn about SRP (Single-Responsibility Principle), it is the heart of cleaner code.

When you are striving for single responsibility, your functions will tend to be short which is exactly how long they should be!

Function Arguments

You know how long the function should be but what about the arguments?

The fewer the numbers, the better. Zero is ideal.

The higher number of arguments/parameters make your code inefficient in multiple ways:
  • Understanding the function takes longer.
  • Becomes harder to test.
  • More chances of messing things up.
  • Higher chances of violating SRP.
Sad but true.

Simplify Conditional Statements

You tell me, which one is easier to read? 
if(person.age > 60 && person.salary > 5000 && person.score > 300 && person.score < 600 && person.retiredYear > 2014) {
    enrollForRetirementPension();
}
Vs. 
if(isPersonEligibleForPension(person)) {
    enrollForRetirementPension();
}boolean isPersonEligibleForPension(Person person) {
    return (person.age > 60 && person.salary > 5000 && person.score > 300 && person.score < 600 && person.retiredYear > 2014);
}
You don』t really have to waste your time reading through the implementation if the function name is clear to you, hence, improving your efficiency and making your code very clean.

Hence, refactor your complex conditions into a function and give it a descriptive name. Clean and simple.

Declaration of Variables

Declare them as close to where they are being used.

Some of us (including ex-me) may have a practice of declaring all variables names at the top of our class/file, even though it might be used only in one place.

If you declare variables like that, then all the methods of your class have access to them and can modify the value, hence increasing the number of probable suspects for some bug.

Hence, just try to declare the variable exactly where they are being used.

That』s all folks!

From one of my favorites — Jim Kwik.
「Knowledge is not power, it』s potential power」
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