09/16/2009 12:52:28 AM EST

Learn the Hungarian Notation. Having programmed in many languages, from Assembly for different processors to extensive C++ programming, I can say the Hungarian notation is a must for writing reliable code. The Hungarian notation makes it easier for team members to communicate and read each other's code. In a nutshell, the Hungarian naming convention is one technique among many that helps programmers produce better code faster. I personally extended the original Hungarian notation for classes, interfaces, methods, member variables, static variables, global variables, objects, arrays, bitwise operations, memory allocation cycles, error handling, exception handling, and data flow to name a few. There are many other benefits of using the Hungarian notation such as finding bugs at compile time and finding bugs during code reviews. People rejecting the usefulness of the Hungarian notation never grasped the idea of using the compiler as a debugger.

CanadaDaniel

09/16/2009 02:28:55 AM EST

Great article and great suggestion. From now on i will also read my code!

South AfricaMuzi

09/16/2009 02:37:22 AM EST

Carefully reading your own code is an interesting piece of advice that hadn't occurred to me. It can indeed be enlightening, especially if you read your code a few years after you wrote it. It can be a humbling experience. If on the other hand you still find it perfect, it means that your skills are not progressing: a worrying sign.

GreeceDiomidis Spinellis

09/16/2009 08:48:08 AM EST

I would recommend reading a copy of "The Elements of Programming Style", maybe a bit dated but good solid information.

United StatesRichard Moore

09/17/2009 01:40:19 AM EST

I have gone through "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell. It is a fine book. My suggestion is, after going through that book, if we are doing this code reading, it would help in improving the code to greater extent.

IndiaAmar@acmet

09/22/2009 10:30:17 AM EST

Good article, writing readable code we might rule the world!

MexicoJavier Torres

09/23/2009 11:30:17 AM EST

Concerning the tools used for printing code listings, the "trueprint" application on Unix is something I've used for many years. It facilitates printing listings of multiple files, with file and function indexes, indent levels, and other features. For the nearsighted (like me), it has an intelligent 4-pages-per-page mode, which gives me an even wider view in less space.

United StatesDavid Karr