Programmer’s Survival Tips – #5

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Know your IDE Your IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is your tool for creating great applications. Without it, you don't mean much, unless you are a hardcore .NET developer that can write a whole application in Notepad and compile it with a command line compiler. The bottom line is, you need your

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #4

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When writing code, the simplest solution to a problem is the best Occam's razor according to Wikipedia is "the principle that 'entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity' (entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem). The popular interpretation of this principle is that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. Simplest

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #3

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Build up a code library or repository How much code do you rewrite? Be honest with yourself. I am a very lazy programmer. So lazy in fact that I created a project template for myself. (More on this later) But as any good programmer knows, having a stash of code is

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #2

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Never commit to anything without doing proper research first On a couple of occasions I have been approached by one of my clients wanting a change to a system I or one of my colleagues wrote. They will start off by saying that they need a 'small' addition and that it

Programmer’s Survival Tips – #1

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Never give your mobile number to a client, unless you work for yourself If you are a programmer, and you work for a company (not for yourself), giving out information like this is just as good as signing away any possibility of being able to take some time off. Clients automatically