7 Ways to Maintain and Write Better Code

1. Avoid Global Code

• Global variables and loops are a mess and can prove problematic when your application grows to millions of lines of code (most do!!!).
• Think twice before you pollute the global namespace with variables, functions, loops, etc.

2. Use meaningful structures

• Structuring your application is very important, don't use complicated structures, always stick to simplicity.
• Always split the four parts of any typical application apart from each other - HTML, CSS Templates/Layouts, JavaScript, PHP Code.

3. Use meaningful Names

• Never use names like 

  $k

  , 

  %n

  , and 

  $test

   for your variables.
• Good code should be meaningful in terma of variable names, function/method names, and class names.
• Some good examples of meaningful names are: 

  $request

  , 

  $dbResult

   and 

  $tempFile

   (depending on your coding style guidelines these may use underscores, camelcase, or, pascal case).

4. Write useful comments

• Write meaningful, single line comments for vague lines.
• Write full parameter and functionality descriptions for functions and methods; for tricky logic blocks, describe the logic in words before it if necessary.
• Don't forget, always keep your comments up to date!

5. Use a coding standard

• It's easy to write bad, unorganized code, but it's hard to maintain such code.
• Good code typically follows some standard for naming conventions, formatting, etc.

6. Use automated build tools

• Try to use tools like Ant and Phing.

7. Refractor

• Code refactoring is the eight habit of highly effective developers.
• Believe it or not, you should be refactoring your code on a daily basis or your code is not in good health!
• If your function or method is more than 20-25 lines, it's more likely that you're including too much logic inside it, and you can probably split it into two or smaller functions/methods.
• If your method/function name is more than 20 characters, you should either rethink the name or rethink the whole function/method by reviewing the first rule.

Need Help