In this article, we will share with you 7 tips that will help you be a better developer. These tips are not specific to any language or platform, so they should be applicable to anyone who wants to improve their coding skills. Moreover, these tips are fairly simple, and if you are looking for slightly more advanced ones we recommend checking out these clean code ideas. 

1. Comment your code.

In the world of software development, comments are your friends. They are the way you explain what is going on in your code so that others can understand it. If you don't comment, then others will have to figure things out themselves, or they might just skip the code altogether because they don't understand it.

Commenting on your code isn't just good for those who are reading it; it's also good for you. When writing a new piece of code, having comments can help guide you through the process and keep you focused on what needs to be done next.

2. Use version control.

If you are working with a team of developers (or even if you aren't), version control is an important part of any development environment. It allows multiple people to work on the same file at once without overwriting each other's changes or losing them altogether when someone accidentally deletes something important from their local machine. Version control also lets everyone know who changed what and when — an invaluable tool if there is ever any doubt about what was changed or why it was changed!

3. Name things logically.

The name of a variable, function, class or anything else in your code should be easy to understand and describe what it does. This can be as simple as naming your variables after the data they contain (i.e., "product_name"), or it can be more complicated, like when you have nested objects that need to be accessed by multiple functions (i.e., "product_bundle"). Tagging can also help when trying to figure out which variables, functions, and classes are related. 

This is especially true for functions that return a value; if you're returning an object, don't just call it "result" — call it something like "product_result". It will make your code much easier to read later on down the line when you're trying to figure out why something isn't working correctly.

4. Exercise your brain - take on a big project.

The best way to get better at anything is to push yourself past your comfort zone. You might be able to write a few basic functions, but if you're looking for a challenge, try writing an entire application from scratch. This may sound daunting at first—especially if you've never done it before—but once you start diving into the code and seeing what each line does, everything starts coming together.

5. Learn how to debug effectively.

Debugging is a skill that can be learned and improved with practice. Here are some tips for getting better at it:

  • Write testable code. If you write code that's hard to test, it will be harder to debug. A good way to make your code more testable is by writing unit tests before the feature itself is implemented, so if there's an issue, later on, you have a way of finding out where things went wrong quickly.
  • Break complex tasks into small ones. Write tests for each small piece of functionality and make sure they pass before moving on to the next one. This makes debugging easier as well because if something goes wrong during testing, you'll find out exactly where something broke down much more quickly than if you had tried implementing everything in one go without having any tests in place first.
  • Make sure that all parameters passed into functions are validated; don't forget about null values either! If there's ever a chance for an error here, make sure to check for it using assertions or unit tests; otherwise, bugs will slip through undetected until they reach production

6. Ask for reviews.

In order to make sure that your code is well-written, it's always a good idea to get other people involved in the process. In fact, this is one of the most effective ways to catch bugs and prevent them from making their way into production. If you're working on an open-source project or something similar where anyone can submit changes, consider asking for reviews from other contributors before merging any pull requests; this will help ensure that no dangerous code gets merged into the master.

7. Learn new things about your toolset - always.

It's important to keep yourself up-to-date on the latest technology and techniques. If you're not learning new things, then it becomes much easier for you to get stuck in a rut; this can lead to complacency and eventually cause your skillset to stagnate. To prevent this from happening, try to read blogs every day (if possible), attend conferences and meetups whenever you can, and spend some time looking through other people's repositories on GitHub.

Takeaway

So, there you have it: some practical advice to help you become a better developer. Moreover, all of these tips are fairly basic practices, meaning that devoting time and energy to them can pay off big-time without ever feeling painful.