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Top 15 Software Engineering Best Practices You Should Know in 2024
Published
21st Mar, 2024
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People often associate software engineering with complex algorithms, commands, and data structures. Having worked in the software engineering field for many years, I can say that the code can sometimes seem like an alien language. For me, working with computer codes does not necessarily have to be so complex. That is why, as a leading software engineer, I recommend writing codes that are easy to read and understand. I am also going to share some software engineering best practices for all engineers to adopt to ease the process.
I will also recommend some practical tips and recommendations to guide you in adopting software engineer best practices from the industry. The purpose of this blog is to create awareness among all coders that writing concise and efficient code is the way to go.
What is Software Engineering?
Software engineering refers to a branch in the field of computer science that focuses on the design, development, maintenance, and testing of different software applications. In my role as a software engineer, I apply knowledge of programming languages and engineering practices to build different software solutions for end users.
For me, software engineering practices include the design and development of applications, including computer games, network control systems, business applications, operating systems, and more. This career path offers opportunities to work in any industry if you are well-versed in software engineering best practices. The demand for software developers continues to grow with the constant evolution of technology. Many companies are also shifting towards hiring software engineers who have a programming practice in software engineering.
Interested individuals can join the best Bootcamps for Software Engineering to learn more about such processes.
The Need for Best Practices for Software Engineering
Software engineering best practices are common across organizations in today’s world. According to me, these practices are important because they:
- Ensure rigorous testing, reduce software defects, and enhance quality
- Streamline processes and make clients understand what is coding standards in software engineering
- Facilitate scalable software architecture to accommodate future growth
- Promote collaboration among team members to promote a cohesive development environment
- Help safeguard against all kinds of vulnerabilities to protect sensitive data
- Ease maintenance by reducing the risk of errors
- Ensure the delivery of reliable software for improved client satisfaction
Top 15 Best Practices for Software Engineering in 2024
Like any other profession, we software engineers have a tendency to work within some parameters. So, if you ask me what are software engineering best practices in present times, my answer would be the following:
1. Software Engineering Coding Standards
Standardized coding conventions help keep the code relevant and useful for clients, future developers, and coders in the software engineering community. Having worked with many professional programmers, I can state that a majority of their time is spent reading code rather than writing it. So, it’s important to be familiar with the coding standards in software engineering that help you write code that is easy to understand.
I recommend earning an online Web Development certificate to learn more about such practices.
2. Application of Refactoring
Software refactoring is the process of modifying or restructuring any existing code. This makes the code easier to understand, maintain, and change. Refactoring is among those software engineering best practices that allow me to add flexibility to the system to accommodate future code changes. Refactoring also involves understanding existing code and requirements and making changes to it.
3. Reduction in Technical Debt
Technical debt is one of the modern software engineering practices used to address debt arising from bugs, legacy code, or other missing documentation. It is used interchangeably with design or code debt. In my collaborations with development teams, I have observed that technical debt is incurred when expedited actions are taken to meet project deadlines. However, this debt must be addressed through refactoring at a later stage. Technical debt occurs when there is a prioritization of swift delivery over the pursuit of perfection in the code.
4. Unit Code Testing
Unit tests are among the good programming practices in software engineering that I usually use in building software. Unit testing helps expose all kinds of potential issues early in the development process. Relying only on manual testing would be impossible in several projects because of the complexity of software and the frequent release cycles. So, software engineers like me need to test most of the software and their associated codes. The automatic unit test quickly pinpoints any issues when they fail, allowing for immediate identification and resolution.
5. Behavior Driven Development
BDD, or behavior-driven development, is considered one of the good practices in software engineering. BDD focuses on the behavior and expectations of the specific software’s users. It usually involves writing examples in ubiquitous language to showcase user behaviors and using the same examples as automated tests.
6. Automated Acceptance Testing
An acceptance test is a form of formal specification that showcases how a software product should act. The test is often expressed as a usage scenario or use case.
I consider automated acceptance testing to be one of the best software engineering practices to follow because it is an integral part of a continuous delivery strategy. Developers must ensure that these automated tests are running smoothly. These tests can be run in various DevOps software by describing the acceptance test with BDD, utilizing tools such as Jenkins, CircleCI, or Azure DevOps.
7. DevOps
DevOps comprises essential software engineering best practices that have emerged over the last several years to help teams deliver projects efficiently. The software ensures that teams deliver all tasks in a highly agile way by integrating different software development and operations.
According to me, this mindset also encourages a flexible approach towards the product development process.
8. Configuration Management
Configuration management refers to the practice of configuring various applications, servers, and infrastructure as code. I have worked with several configuration management tools available in the market, such as Ansible, Puppet, and Chef. These technologies can also be used to configure diverse servers and orchestrate automation tasks.
9. Collaboration and Communication
Two of the best practices of software engineering in 2024 are communication and collaboration, both of which contribute to achieving an agile approach. It is essential to ensure effective communication not only between individuals but also within the organization, particularly among team members, especially when working with cross-functional teams.
Communication takes place through various mediums, such as writing, voice, video, social media, face-to-face meetings, or conference calls. Individuals typically begin in a consensus-based culture and then transition to peer-to-peer collaboration, emphasizing effective communication as software engineering best practices.
10. Infrastructure as a Code
Infrastructure as code provides you with the ability to create, manage, and modify infrastructure in a cloud platform by using code. This technique is important because it allows you to automate the infrastructure setup. Such software engineering best practices lead to a more consistent and well-functioning infrastructure.
11. Monolith Software Architecture
A monolithic application structure is an efficient approach for various applications that do not require a modular architecture like microservices. However, it is crucial also to emphasize the separation of concerns (SoC) when dealing with these monoliths. I believe navigating the intricacies of working with microservices can be challenging. Therefore, starting with a monolith and refactoring it into microservices when necessary is prudent.
12. Microservices Software Architecture
There is a growing trend of building software as a set of microservices in current times. These building blocks can be combined to form a complex system. The primary advantage of these software engineering best practices is their flexibility, achieved by separating functionality into small pieces. Adopting microservices is an option if you prefer not to maintain a monolith.
13. Continuous Integration
The agile software development approach necessitates the integration and deployment of various software changes to production by everyone involved. This process occurs regularly, at least two times a day. Ensuring that every team member can quickly track and address such issues is imperative. These software engineering best practices cover the whole project life cycle in an organization.
14. Test-Driven Development
This development practice helps improve software quality and time to market by running various user-defined tests automatically. It aids in understanding the functional behavior of the software that your team is creating during a particular project. This process is one of the most efficient software engineering best practices that help handle the team’s overall working process.
15. Monitoring and Logging
Agile teams prioritize continuous delivery in every project. However, achieving this can be challenging without proper monitoring and logging services. It is essential to identify bugs in a controlled environment and promptly trigger corrective action for the development team to prevent encountering such issues. Consider investing in a central monitoring and logging system such as AWS CloudWatch, Elastic Stack, or Azure Monitor.
Conclusion
Software development best practices have matured over time. That led to the widespread adoption of agile software delivery in all organizations. The ability to deliver higher quality at higher speeds will help you accomplish your company’s goals instantly as you develop your products iteratively. However, you must be well-versed in all the best practices of software engineering in 2024 to ensure zero errors during the process. I recommend exploring KnowledgeHut's Best Bootcamps For Software Engineering to learn more about such best practices at your convenience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is an example of a software engineering best practice?
Keeping your code simple is considered one of the software engineering best practices you can adopt. It helps maintain coherence in your code, making it easier to modify and repurpose complex terms. Complex code can quickly spiral out of control with a single mistake, so simplicity is the key here.
2. What are critical practices in software engineering?
Managing testing as a critical practice is essential to ensure the success of software projects. It often involves testing the software throughout development, ensuring that all changes undergo proper testing.
3. What is the future of a software engineer?
Software will always require experts in software engineering for development, maintenance, and continual improvement. This indicates that the demand for software engineers in the future is expected to rise. Additionally, they may be sought after for managerial roles, overseeing automated software processes across organizations.
4. How do software engineering best practices contribute to software quality?
Software engineering best practices ensure maintaining quality standards within the field. These practices not only guide but also shape the development process. Additionally, testing ensures that the code produces the desired results and meets user requirements. Unit tests, in particular, are effective in testing self-contained parts of the code.
5. What tools and resources can help me implement software engineering best practices?
Compilers, debuggers, text editors, source code generators, and integrated development environments are commonly used by software engineers. Additionally, they make use of various modern technological tools such as Git, GitHub, Eclipse, and others.
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