If you are new to programming, please read this...

There are a few rules that you should always obey and a few things you should know when you are a programmer.

Things To Think About
#1) Most computer programmers look at programming like a game. And in a way, it kindof is. It is a game of logic that will never end. But there are serious things to think about too. Programming is NOT a challenge of time. Most programmers just rush through there work, and they never fully test it because they think that they know there stuff. That is one of the WORST mistakes that you could ever make. Never reliese a program without proper testing. You should always use your own program as if you where a normal user. Test every feature, image, and scrap of code that your program has. The beta stage is not complete until you have ran ALL of its code at least once in the intended environment.
Take your time and allways test even the most simple of things for bugs. You never know what kind of fatal bug could really mess up a machine that you are trying to help.

#2)There is a light side to programming, and there is a dark side. The light side, is the side that helps people. I am sure you know what the dark side is lol. Programmers must choose for themselves what they want to do, but you must understand that mal code is wrong.
You never know what it is like to be infected with malicious code, until it hits you.

#3)Always have fun with your code. If a project stops being fun, drop it. Chances are, if you have gotten board with a project, then you will not be able to do a good job, or support it like you should. Code things that you enjoy coding. If you want to code a game, try some simple things out first, before trying to jump into something big. Make sure that the code you are writing now, is going to be the code that you will want to write in the future.


Simple Rules That I Live By
#1)No Malware
#2)Test. Test, then test again!
#3)If you believe that it is bug free, test it more...
#4)There is always a solution to every problem. If something doest work one way, try to achieve it in another way.

Thank you for the tips.

wait programming?

Great rules to live by! I know from not testing and then testing again that you are 100% correct you should always TEST everything

thank you for these rules

thank you so much for these tips, you are great man

"Measure twice, cut once"; as the old carpenter said after trying to fit a six and a half foot plank into a seven foot gap.

Some good tips there Jerry. Here's another way to think about point 2:

This approach to coding is sometimes called the eXtreme Testing methodology. Sometimes it is refered to as test-driven development.
Before you start coding your application/web page/whatever, think about the fundamental things that you are trying to achieve. Then write tests that the code MUST pass. Testing units such as nUnit are a good start, but you should also write your own. Tests should include the input of bad data, good data and data that is right on the boundary of if-statements and loops. Always include tests for 0 and null objects or values. With strings, always test against empty strings and very long strings. etc etc.
Now, after your test cases are written, write your main program. Code and test until every test case passes, then stop.
Why is this a good practice? Well for starters, you have very well defined boundaries and criteria that must be met before you even begin. But it's more than that. What happens if you release your program, then need to make changes to meet changes in market forces, or fix unforeseen errors, or add new client requested features? You already have lots of test cases that still need to be met, but now you add more to accommodate your changes. Now when you make the changes to your main program you can do so without fear that something else will be broken.

This testing methodology does rely on your ability to think of test cases before you write your application. But it is a good way of thinking about the problem before you begin coding your program, an important part of the design phase of development.

As a programmer, can I say that testing is an extremely important part of the development cycle, and is often not afforded the time it is needed in the real world. At the very least you should always be testing the code that you write and it is important to think outside the box. It is impossible to test for everything, but robust code is written by asking yourself the question "how can I break this?"

That's my rant for the day so happy programming