2 things you should never do as a programmer

You will find lots of guides and articles on the internet about what you should do to be a good programmer. A lot has been written on what we should do to excel in any field.

In my view, its not only what we do which make us good in our profession. It mostly depends on what we should not do which make us excel at our work.

In this article I am making short list of two things which any programmer should not do.

1. Stop Reading about new things

If you think you know a lot about programming because you are an expert in one of the so called mother language, then you are making a big mistake. Even languages which were marked as stable and labelled as mother languages like c and c++ are changing a lot. At least new libraries and being added to them. So you should never stop reading about new things. Subscribe to few good magazines or journals, even if you do not have time to read all articles and magazines. You will be at least aware of what is going on around.

2. Coding before architecture

Never start coding before deciding on the architecture of your application. Its a huge mistake many new comers as well as so called experience people do. I can tell you from my experience in projects, its architecture which makes a project success or failure. Starting code before taking decisions and making plan for project execution is like going for ride when you really dont know where to go. Read about design patterns. They are documented solutions for common problems. Try to use them.