Coffee break #63. How can a software developer improve their soft skills. Code Refactoring - Use Cases and Benefits

How can a software developer improve their soft skills

Source: Free Code Camp The term soft skills (soft skills) occurs quite often. And although it is sometimes considered an old-fashioned term, I cannot overemphasize the importance of social and emotional development for those involved in software development. Code quality, technical skills, communication and collaboration all combine to make a developer a true professional. I will not talk about soft skills here from a theoretical point of view. Instead, I will try to give you practical advice on developing your own interpersonal skills to become more professional.

What you need to know about soft skills

Soft skills are no different from other skills. You have to practice them regularly if you want them to improve, and it may take a while before they become second nature to you. Remember that everyone can benefit from working on their soft skills. Even if you think they are perfect, there is a chance that they can be improved. Don't be afraid to admit it! No one knows everything in life, so why should anyone blame us for what we can still improve?

What do soft skills mean for your career?

Soft skills are not just about being pleasant to talk to. They are necessary for professional work in the field of software. The Information Age has made the world more interconnected than ever before, which means it's easier than ever to communicate with customers, customers, team members and other stakeholders. At the same time, this means increased competition. To stand out from the crowd, you need to be able to make an impact. In my opinion, the main advantage of soft skills is that they help to create a network of personal connections within organizations and communities. Having good interpersonal skills means being approachable, likeable, reliable, and trustworthy—that is, someone other people enjoy working with and want to learn more about. This opens the door to new possibilities. I often see developers who are confident in their technical skills but lack communication skills and struggle to demonstrate their value to the company they work for. If you think about it in terms of management, why would anyone hire someone who lacks confidence when there are many good candidates who are confident enough to prove themselves? Confidence is a very important factor when making a hiring decision! But there is nothing wrong with being humble. Just remember that the self-confidence that comes from being aware of what you are doing is a great help when you need to explain something to management or colleagues. Remember that other people notice if you add something of value to a discussion, sharing your point of view or ideas instead of just agreeing with everything that is said. Building good team relationships makes it easier to solve problems because there will always be people around who want to help you. This can be difficult at first (especially if you're being called "uncommunicative"), but trust me - once this happens more often, things will improve dramatically!

Flexible skills to help you

Communication skills

How well can you communicate your ideas, opinions and concerns? Whether you're speaking at a conference or discussing your project with a client, communication is key and it all comes down to how well you get your point across.

Collaboration skills 

Are you able to work in a team? How well do you communicate with your peers and colleagues? Are you good at delegating tasks and responsibilities, or do you always try to do everything yourself?

Conflict resolution skills

Conflicts occur in all organizations, whether between employees or between customers and the organization. It's all about how we deal with these conflicts. We need to learn how to resolve them in order to make everyone happy without being too overbearing or passive.

Emotional intellect

 Do you know when you are stressed or feeling overwhelmed? Have you ever lost your temper? Do you get frustrated when things don't go according to plan? The ability to recognize and manage your emotions is essential to your success as a developer.

Managing your time and priorities

How good are your time management skills? Do you constantly overload yourself with work, but do not have time to do anything? This is not only bad for productivity, but also for your mental health.

How to Improve Your Communication Skills

The first thing to remember is that soft skills are not innate. We can all learn to communicate better, collaborate, and work more effectively with others. It's just a matter of practice. The best thing about soft skills is that you can improve them at any time - it's never too late to start! Here are some practical tips for developing the best social skills:

Be an active listener

This is probably the most important communication skill. Listening may seem easy, but as many know, it is often not easy. When you are spoken to, do not rush to answer right away - take your time and pay attention to what your interlocutors say! This includes both verbal and non-verbal communication, so watch your facial expressions as well as your body language.

Respond appropriately to comments

Feedback is vital for every professional. To improve, you need to know what you are good at and where you can improve. If someone comments on your actions, take it with an open mind and try not to get defensive. It happens that people give negative feedback not entirely objectively, but if you take the time to talk about it, they will usually be ready to clarify their point of view. Remember that even if someone is trying to help you get better, they don't have a crystal ball and sometimes they can be wrong.

Be confident when talking to people

Communication is useless if it comes from uncertainty or doubt. If you think something might sound awkward or stupid, then chances are it will sound awkward or stupid. Try to rehearse what you are going to say out loud - it is better to do this in front of a mirror. This way you can see how you look when you say something like “Um… yes… I mean… no” instead of “Of course!” Remember that confidence has nothing to do with arrogance. On the contrary, it means feeling comfortable enough to confidently and openly share your ideas with others. This is much better than being afraid to look stupid (which only makes people feel bad).

Be interested in other people and their ideas

Never be afraid to ask questions. Even if your interlocutor does not currently have the answer you need, by communicating with him you can still find something useful or interesting for yourself. If there is any disagreement between two people during a conversation, try to approach the problem from each side separately. This will help you understand more exactly what each person has in mind and make it easier to collaborate later on (you'll know which solutions can satisfy each side). Last but not least, always be open-minded. Excessive installation on one's own opinion can lead to unnecessary conflicts with other people.

Conclusion

Another important thing I would like to mention here is that social skills take time to develop. Like everything else in life, it will take months, maybe even years, before they become second nature to you (if they ever will). So do not expect that you and those around you will change immediately after reading this article. Instead, focus now on improving one area while consciously working to improve social skills in general. With enough practice, over time, people will begin to notice changes in the way you interact with others. One of my favorite Stephen Hawking quotes: "Remember to look at the stars, not down at your feet." The same philosophy applies here - look up, not down! Building relationships takes time, but it pays off in the long run.

Code Refactoring - Use Cases and Benefits

Source: Hackermoon To keep up with the competition, companies often try to speed up the development process. This reduces costs, but may affect the quality of the final product. One way to improve the quality of code in a company is refactoring. It is often overlooked because it is almost invisible to users. The code still works, so everything is in order, right? However, problematic and messy code affects the speed of the product and its overall performance. Therefore, code refactoring has a strong impact on the achievement of long-term goals. In this article, we will not only learn the meaning of code refactoring, but also talk about its importance. In addition, we will tell you the main benefits that you can get from code refactoring.

What is code refactoring?

Well-known programming theorist Martin Fowler believes that code refactoring is the process of editing the code of an application or product and fixing problematic parts. The edited code is easy to understand and navigate. It improves the internal structure of the product, its functionality and behavior. Often, many developers are more focused on implementing the features that make an application or online product work. Unfortunately, code cleanliness becomes a secondary priority or not taken into account at all. Why worry when you can fix it later? The question is, when will that “later” come? Due to the fact that "clean code" does not change anything for the end user, 63% of companies do not see the point in spending time on it, which leads to the so-called "code smell" - problems in the source code of the program. Developers either neglect code refactoring or postpone it until later. As a result, the application is too slow, and it can be simply impossible to understand a database that is too complex. Refactoring is not a one-time action, but an iterative process. As your application gets more complex with multiple updates and new features, the code gets heavier. After refactoring during development, it can be clean and tidy, but the process needs to be repeated if you want to avoid future problems. having received several updates and new features, the code becomes heavier. After refactoring during development, it can be clean and tidy, but the process needs to be repeated if you want to avoid future problems. having received several updates and new features, the code becomes heavier. After refactoring during development, it can be clean and tidy, but the process needs to be repeated if you want to avoid future problems.

When should you refactor your code?

Code refactoring may be required at various stages of application development or update. It is best to plan in advance when and how often you will do it:

• Under development

It is best to fix issues before the product is released. This will help you make a good first impression. "Code smell" can cause bugs or significant performance degradation. If users see problems when they get to know a product, they are unlikely to use that product again, even after everything is fixed in it.

• Before adding new features

The longer the code, the more work you have to put in to fix bugs in it. But if you refactor before adding something new to the code, you will save time for yourself in the future or for those who will work on the code after you. Refactoring should be done every time you add a feature to keep everything neat and clear.

• When an error occurs

You can ignore messy code if it's still working, but if users run into problems because of its complex structure, you need to clean it up. It's easier to spend time and money refactoring code than it is to actively promote an app and wonder why it's losing users.

• After finding duplicates

According to research, on average, duplicates make up to 25% of all code. They are bad in that they make it difficult to read, maintain, and update an application or online product. The situation is even worse when a part of the code that contains errors is duplicated. You spend hours looking for the source of the bug, fixing it, and...the bugs still remain because the twin brother of that piece of code is hiding somewhere else in the database.

What goals can be achieved by refactoring the code?

Once you've learned what code refactoring is and when you need to do it, it's important to understand the benefits it can bring. Awareness of the need to perform code refactoring is a strong motivation. So what does code refactoring mean for your software?

• Improved Software Efficiency

Improving efficiency is the number one goal of code refactoring. If the old code is confusing and unwieldy, it's possible that developers will spend too much time trying to find a bug and changing every line of code. Therefore, code refactoring is necessary for working with code quickly and efficiently. Invest in code refactoring now to save tons of time and resources in the future!

• Performance improvement

The refactored code becomes simpler. This means that the program runs faster and users have no performance issues. A happy user means more customers, more revenue, and more business. Improving product qualityTo stay relevant, it is important not only to create a product, but also to add new features and update it frequently to meet the needs of consumers. This is the only way to stay ahead of the competition years after a product launch. Unfortunately, adding new features is very difficult. If the underlying code is a mess, you can break the whole application just by trying to make it better. Through code refactoring, your products will receive high-quality updates and new features that can significantly increase sales.

• Reducing technical debt

Technical debt has been around for years and has been a nightmare for every IT business owner. It can become a serious problem for the development of the company. The damage caused annually by poor quality software is estimated at more than $150 billion in the United States and more than $500 billion annually worldwide. And while this happens for many reasons, such as time and resource constraints, one of the main problems is bad code, which leads to bad UX, bad architecture, and other negative factors. By refactoring code in a timely manner, it is much easier to reduce technical debt and save the cost, effort, and time of finding and fixing serious bugs or preventing the need to start from scratch.

When should you not refactor your code?

Code refactoring is important, but there are times when it is not necessary. For example:

1. When is it cheaper to create new code from scratch.
2. If you need big changes in your project.

Now let's look at each of these situations.

When refactoring costs more than building a new system

As previously mentioned, forgetting to refactor can ruin an entire project. Sometimes, due to the presence of errors and the inability to fix them, the application becomes useless. Of course, everything can be fixed, but this may require so much investment, effort and time that it is better to create everything from scratch. So before you dive into continuous and tedious code refactoring, try to determine what is less resource-intensive. Write down all costs and milestones to find the best option. You can also consult with professional developers to get reliable information about the current state of affairs and draw up a step-by-step plan to improve your project.

If you need to make major changes to the system

Sometimes it doesn't make sense to refactor code because you need a new application structure, CMS, or other major change. The changes you made will again make the code complex and messy. Therefore, you will soon need a new code refactoring. Just change what you need and then refactor the code. Thus, resources will not be wasted.

Conclusion

Refactoring code means simplifying it, making it clearer and more organized. It should be repeated regularly after updates and new features are added as the code structure becomes more complex. It is also necessary to refactor the code during development and when bugs are found. While organizing this process can be challenging for a company, the benefits of refactoring are too obvious to pass up. You can improve efficiency, fix issues faster, improve system performance, and integrate new features with minimal effort. But you don't need to refactor if your code has become so complex that it's easier to write from scratch, or if you want to make major changes to the product.