Development Practices

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Help Your Fellow Developers with Well-Worded Error Messages

Write error messages that won't make readers think. A good error message should both point out a problem in your code and indicate a solution.

Development Practices

Your Database is Underutilized

Use your relational database management system to its full potential to process data, describe domain logic, and take action when data changes.

Development Practices

The Tradeoff of Multiple Repositories

There are real costs involved in the decision to have a development team work in multiple repositories—I believe these costs are always overlooked.

Development Practices

Be Explicit with Your API’s Data

When designing APIs, why you should be explicit about state when crossing system boundaries.

Development Practices

Capability Feature Flags for Backward Compatibility

Use "feature flags" to improve code that needs to maintain backward compatibility with an external API, device, OS, or hardware version.

Development Practices

Four Tips To Keep Refactoring Efficient

Four tips for efficient refactoring: have good test coverage, refactor on a main branch, keep tests green often, remember your purpose.

Development Practices

Test-Driven Development for the Uninitiated

This introduction to TDD is for developers who think test-driven development is a good idea, but don't yet feel like it will work for them.

Development Practices

Learning from Pokémon GO: The Importance of Testing

How Pokémon GO and its early bugs highlight the importance of high-quality code releases through testing and why quick releases aren't always ideal.

Development Practices

[Video] Command Injection: How the Shell Makes You Vulnerable

Command Injection can present a serious vulnerability, allowing attackers to run commands in the shell. This video covers how to defend against it.

Development Practices

Need to Understand Some Legacy Code? Start with a Test!

Debugging legacy application is never easy, but you can make understanding it less of a chore by adding a unit test. Includes rationale and examples.

Development Practices

Smart Strategies for the End of a Project

We talk a lot about what we do before and during projects, but what about when that's all done? What's important when a project is over?

Development Practices

New to Pairing? Speak Up!

When you're new to a project and new to pair programming, you might think it's best to stay quiet and learn as much as you can. You're wrong—speak up!

Development Practices

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