Software development is complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. Developers need to learn best practices and workflows to develop software according to their customers’ specifications.
But sometimes, developers get stuck on bad habits or myths about software development that causes them problems. In this blog post, we debunk some of these myths about software development so you can avoid the same pitfalls.
Software Development Myths
Software development is more complicated than it needs to be. There are two myths that developers need to work hard to avoid.
* “The end justifies the means.” This means that you should make compromises in your code if it saves time now or in the future. But when you do this, you’ll end up with a complicated and unreliable codebase. You can’t fix bugs or add features easily, which will cost you time and money later.
* “You can do anything if you try hard enough.” This might be true for some things in life (exercise, dieting), but not for software development. Software development is a skill-set that takes time and energy to learn and apply correctly. The industry doesn’t have room for people who don’t understand best practices or who don’t take the necessary time to research their solutions before trying them out.
If you want success as a developer, you have to dedicate the time and energy needed upfront so that your development process goes smoothly with as few hiccups along the way as possible.
The only way to know if a piece of software is good is if it’s bug-free
One common myth about software development is that the only way to know if the software is good is if it’s bug-free. But this isn’t true. A piece of software can be very well-designed and still have bugs. And a piece of software with few or no bugs might not be as well-designed.
To decide how “good” a piece of software is, you need to look at design, usability, and performance. These are all indicators of how well-designed and stable the software is. So while many businesses are focused on finding bugs in their product, they should also consider these other factors before declaring a piece of software “finished.”
Title Case Is King
Developers often believe that the title of the software development process is King, which causes them to ignore other parts of the process. For example, they may not bother with documentation or testing.
Software development is a complex process, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. In order to avoid problems and mistakes in the process, developers need to remember that it’s never just about one thing. Instead, there are many parts to making software development successful – and it all contributes to smooth project delivery.
There are no best practices.
Developers often mistakenly believe that there are no best practices in software development. They think that there’s no point in learning how to develop software the right way because there will always be unique needs for every project.
This is a false assumption for many reasons. For starters, it’s simply easier to do things right the first time than go back and fix mistakes later on. This goes doubly so when you have no idea what you’re doing. Inexperienced developers may have a hard time even realizing they’re doing something wrong until they start experiencing consequences down the line.
Second, following best practices save you time and hassle later on, but it also helps build your reputation as an experienced developer who knows what they are doing.
Finally, best practice knowledge can also help you better understand particular technologies since best practices encompass specific techniques and approaches to using certain technologies that might not be obvious otherwise.
In short, know the basics of developing software the right way before trying anything else or experimenting with different methods. Learn from experts to avoid any pitfalls or bad habits along the way!
Code Doesn’t Matter As Long As It Works.
There is a code myth that says as long as code works, the quality of the code doesn’t matter. It’s easy to see why some developers believe this, considering how much time it can take to fix poorly written code. But what about the other side of the coin? What if the code doesn’t work at all?
Badly written software can cause several problems, from a lack of functionality to crashes and lost data. And if you think that these issues are only relevant to small businesses and startups, think again.
For example, in 2017, Facebook announced that they had accidentally set up hundreds of thousands of new users with default settings for privacy controls different from their previous settings. This bug caused tens of millions of people who had previously posted to find themselves with privacy settings that prevented them from posting content publicly or tagging friends in photos on Facebook without special permissions.
All this is because an engineer forgot to include a comma in his coding language. The lesson here is clear: not even Facebook’s engineers can afford not to care about every line they write!
Conclusion
Software development is not easy. It’s a complex field with many facets that all need to work together, so it’s not surprising that misconceptions about the process abound. But these misconceptions can lead to bad decisions that can cause serious problems and even derail a project.
It’s important to understand what software development is all about and what it entails. The myths outlined above are some of the most common, but they’re also the most easily debunked. So to assure the success of your project, take a hard look at your understanding of software development and make sure you don’t fall into these traps yourself.
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