How to Code Like a Pro: Practical Tips to Slash Errors Before They Happen

By Olusegun Awolola, Principal Engineer at Premium Media NG

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We’ve all been there—you hit “run,” and instead of magic, your console explodes with red errors. After a decade of debugging nightmares (and victories), I’ve learned that the best way to fix bugs is to avoid them altogether. Here’s my battle-tested playbook for cleaner, more reliable code.

1. Plan Before You Code (Yes, Really!)

Jumping straight into coding is like building a house without blueprints. My team at Premium Media NG swears by:

• Pseudocode First: Sketch logic in plain English. It surfaces flaws early.
• User Stories: Define what the code should do before how it does it.
• Edge Cases: Ask, “What if the input is empty/nonsense?”

Pro Tip: Whiteboard sessions save hours of refactoring.

2. Write Code for Humans, Not Just Machines

Clean code isn’t vanity—it’s survival. I enforce these rules:

• Name Things Properly: calculateRevenue() beats calcR().
• Small Functions: Do one thing well. If it’s 30+ lines, split it.
• Comments ≠ Crutches: Document why (not what).

“`javascript
// Bad:
function proc(d) { return d * 0.2; }

// Good:
function calculateTax(income) {
const TAX_RATE = 0.2;
return income * TAX_RATE; // 20% flat tax
}
“`

3. Test Ruthlessly—Early and Often

• Unit Tests: Like seatbelts—boring but life-saving.
• Manual Checks: Pretend you’re a user trying to break things.
• Peer Reviews: Fresh eyes catch what yours gloss over.

True Story: A console.log() I “temporarily” left in production once caused a 3AM firefight. Now, tests run automatically.

4. Leverage Tools (They’re Free!)

• Linters (ESLint, Pylint): Catch syntax errors before runtime.
• Type Systems (TypeScript): My team’s bug reports dropped 40% after switching.
• Version Control (Git): Branches let you experiment safely.

5. Learn from Every Mistake

• Post-Mortems: When bugs slip through, dissect why without blame.
• Error Logging: Tools like Sentry track what users actually experience.
• Rubber Duck Debugging: Explaining code aloud works shockingly well.

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Final Thought:
Perfection is impossible, but consistent habits turn coding from error-prone to predictable. At Premium Media NG, we treat clean code like hygiene—non-negotiable.

Spotted a typo in this post? Congrats, you’re a debugger! 😉 Got your own error-slashing tips? Share below!

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