7 Signs You're a Bad Programmer

Are you a good programmer or a bad programmer?

Here are seven signs that you might be headed in the wrong direction.

1) Not planning before starting coding

Speaking of this, I actually haven't done it myself, I always like to code directly. But slowly, I saw the benefits of a simple plan before writing code.

Most of my coding lately has been SQL based, and I've started to prefer sketching out table designs first.

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2) Not using version control

Version control is indeed a very useful technology. Not only does it keep track of every file in your solution, storing the entire history, but it also allows you to differentiate between different versions into branches, knowing who changed what and when (and if the commit information is detailed enough, why).

3) Using bad variable names

Do you know what's wrong with using variable1 and variable2 as variable names? Variables should be named based on what they do or what they contain. Oh, and Visual Studio has some powerful refactoring tools that make it relatively easy to get things back in order.

4) Duplication of code

I highly recommend the book Pragmatic Programmer, and the first tip is to not repeat code. I think this is too extreme to say that you should never repeat code at all. If you need to repeat the same code 4 times, you can create a function for that code, which will greatly improve your code.

5) You have a hard time understanding your own code

Why did I do it this way before? I always feel like I can’t remember why I used to code this way before. So, in addition to continuous learning, we should also do something to help our future selves understand this code.

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6) Selfish and unwilling to share

I'm not a selfish person, if I learn something really good, I will share it with everyone.

7) Working on multiple projects

Yes, this is one of the seven deadly sins. However, I am currently working on multiple projects, and I have several personal projects that I like. So, I don’t completely agree with this one - working on multiple projects means you are a bad programmer.

Feel free to share your thoughts!