[UrbanTwitch]

In the world of programming and coding, there are errors. I would like to know what's the most frequent way you get errors. Is it because of bad spelling of variables? Unorganized files? No debugging? What is it?

Mine would definitely have to be spelling of variables. Here is my story.

Quote

OK, so it's 4:40 AM. I have been trying to fix this damn bug for over 5 hours and getting it to show and display. Basically, I am taking the Cookyx v3 referral script and modifying it for v4. In v4 of Cookyx... I am using functions to ease the pain. Anyway... I just spent some good sleep hours and I FINALLY fixed it.

MY First Rule of Coding: WATCH FOR SPELLING.
My first bug was that I was going to... register.php?referall=1
I spelled referral wrong so I was getting back an empty text value.

Then I forgot to add in the &id so it would:
register.php?referral&id=1...

So yeah, after I got the CORRECT URL... the data started sending through and EVEN THEN it's still scary to look at.
My referral script does the following: If being referred by ID... take that ID, your ID, your IP, their IP and store it in the database.

Then let's say the referred user is referring someone else... well we their the referrer's ID, referrer referrer's ID, referrer's IP, and referrer referrer's IP. Then we do the appropriate cookie given.

I also check when the referrer has validated and registered their account. There is also code for checking input length, regex, captcha.. all that good stuff.

In fact... here is what I have so far:


So... what's your coding weakness?

[Craig328]

My personal coding weakness is that I get an idea and immediately run with it.

...only when it's around 80% done do I take a moment to step back and, surveying the totality of work produced from this stupendous ingenious idea, do I ask myself "who the hell thought this was a good idea?". Yeah, I get that sometimes.

Aside from that, laying out a properly expandable framework for an app can be challenging. That and database design.

[Lemur]

Overall biggest weakness by far is the simple things. I can get everything complex perfect and spend hours looking over it and find out it's as simple as not converting to floating point division instead of integer... As far as Databases I've yet to get far enough in to identify a weakness and professional level programming as well.

[SixOfEleven]

I don't think is a topic for just web developers. Programmers also have their weaknesses so I'm going to move this to the Corner Cubicle when I'm done.

Like Lemur, it is usually the little things that end up catching me. Have been programming so long that variables are second nature. Since I mostly use C# these days spelling them wrong isn't a big problem, the IDE catches that easily enough. I can see how that would be true for those who don't use an IDE that supports highlighting variables that are misspelled. I've been finding that out while I've been brushing up on C++ lately. It isn't as good at picking up misspelled variable in the IDE.

I guess I'm like Bort's signature. I don't have ADHD, I have ADOS. Attention Deficit Ooooh, Shiny. I get easily distracted while I'm coding and get caught up in new ideas. Was recently working on a project and realized: "Hey, I do this all the time. It would be great to have a class that I could call to handle doing this." So, I ended up experimenting with that for the rest of the day. So my biggest weakness is discipline. My projects get done but I ended up experimenting with other things along the road and probably could have gotten the original project finished faster.

[bodom658]

I get too into the details when I start, and then realize how little I've gotten done of the core program.. Something I am working on.

I've been slowly learning x86 assembly, and I've defiantly seen improvement in this aspect, as it's basically all *modify this value*, *see how output changes*, *repeat* (Since I am trying to learn it on my own)

[Raynes]

I suppose my weakness would be that I occasionally get so focused on reaching a result that I miss crucial complexities in getting there.

[xTorvos]

I'm currently at a University and working a lot so I don't have a lot of time. That coupled with the fact that I recently learned that acquiring a new programming language is a lot easier than learning the first one means that I am constantly trying to learn a new one.

I started with Java at Uni. Eventually I moved on to start studying VBS, Ruby, SQL, C (for Uni), ColdFusion (for job), HTML, Javascript, CSS, and for whatever reason I decided that it would also be a good idea to start reading The Art of Unix Programming and the Pragmatic Programmer.

Suffice to say, my weakness is that I love starting down a new path, but I never really seem to finish the one that I was on before beginning the new one.

(I can't wait for the summer so I can actually have time for all this.)

This post has been edited by xTorvos: 03 April 2010 - 12:10 AM

[programble]

Code organization is my weakness. I start by writing a whole application in one file with functions and classes all over unorganized, then I always have to completely rewrite it in a more organized way, but eventually even that version ends up unorganized, so then I rewrite again, and again...

[Choscura]

My weakness is that I come up with wierd solutions that make perfect sense at the time- and they're usually pretty good, if I say so myself- but then I go back and I have to re-work the problem I was solving in my head to figure out what, exactly, I was trying to do.

[lesPaul456]

My biggest weakness is that I tend to get really excited about a new project and jump right in without doing much planning. Once the initial inspiration wears off the project usually gets abandoned. I'm also kind of like SixOfEleven in that I get distracted easily. I've had a few projects going all at once because I was researching some stuff for one project and ran across an interesting blog. I started working on a project to test out what I read in the blog, but then I got an idea for a new game. Only one of those projects ever got finished.

This post has been edited by lesPaul456: 03 April 2010 - 09:07 PM

[Anarion]

My main problem is that when I want to plan a project, I get stuck at how to do it...And when I am studying for school or when I want to sleep, everything rushes to my mind and I get a good idea on how to do the project

The good is, finally I get the idea. The bad is, it's not done in the proper time!

Also, I too have the distraction problem

[calebjonasson]

My greatest weakness is pre planning my code. Generally along the way I end up ripping sections of code out so I can link it to another object or just delete and go over again using another form of organization. I realize that I should be working with pseudocode first but when I get into the heat of the moment, I just can't stop myself. When I write code, I generally do it two times. The second time through works perfectly though.

[[RTS]BN+VS*]

I don't really know what mine would be. I guess the best people to judge are the ones closely familiar with your work, and not yourself.

As for spelling, I'm dyslectic and have a terrible memory. I therefore simply don't try to spell things correct or remember them, but rely on my IDE's for auto-completion and warning when something is typed wrongly. I also try to copy var and function names as much as possible, which generally avoids issues with typo's and such.

[coden4fun]

My weakness are the following;

1.) I persistently run code marathons where I stay up and code 15 - 17 sleep for 4 - 5 then continue again until I am completely drained. I can usually do this in a 3-4 day cycle until I have completely over exerted my body. By doing this I pay real close attention to details. I pay real close attention to details enough to where I don't work well in teams, but I'm great on my own. For any enterprise work that I work if programming is involved, server maintenance, configuration, etc.. I have to do it all. I have to do the entire thing, because I design everything so specifically and know when to do what.

However that brings me to problem #2.

2.) I'm constantly learning and wanting to do everything in a project that whenever I learn how to do something more advance that knocks out more complexities into simpler task I will redesign the entire application to take this into account. I also learn a lot of new programming design patterns, paradigms, tips, tricks, new API features every day that I'm constantly designing, implementing, testing, designing, implementing, testing.

My programming motto is the following; "Software that I write should be the simplest it can possibly be with a simple way to extend it if future requirements are asked in the future."

3.) Whenever I get deadlines from my clients (small deadlines not the entire project) I am more than likely to work on the entire requirements of what that client wants for their software the night before or the morning of me turning the software in. Of course, I don't turn in crap because I have spent the last days or weeks making the API I'm writing and the software for the client as extensible as possible, and testing out the API and tools that I write so when the requirements are finally "FINALIZED" I can quickly write it up.

I have written software too many times only to meet the requirements only, to see the requirements to be changed in a slight manner or drastically and it would throw off the entire development design I had, because I didn't take enough time designing and planning ahead and making tools that would accept change. Now I do the opposite I write tools, libs, and more tools and libs and do test runs on a database I slowly create for them until the client is 100% happy and has finalized their request, and then I make their requirements. If they make changes, or want to add something then I can because I have built that solid API and set of tools that will allow me to do this.

4.) I am always wanting to add a tool, lib or code snippet just to see if it'll work in a library (rather I use it or not ) just to see if it works that sometimes I just leave it in the lib or chain of tools that I make that sometimes I forget to take it out.

5.) I use to do this, but now I can safely say I don't now, and when trying to obtain my second full-time job it was a life lesson. I use to love to just write code, and whenever I was a small contractor (now I own my own business I don't consider it small by no means) I use to just write code and pay close attention to code, projects that ONLY I thought was important. I never wrote any comments in my code at all. For some reason at my first job as a web developer at a firm they either never noticed, or cared; however, whenever I tried to obtain my second full-time job (before going off on my own and picking up my own clients) my resume some how landed on a CEO's desk of a micro controller software company that made GPS, radio, satellite software using different micro controllers. He asked me if I had ever had any experience with programming them, and I replied honestly no, but give me 2 weeks and I'll WOW you. As interested as he saw that I was, and willing to give me an opportunity He have me a PIC1845 Microchip board and 2 weeks to get familiar with C18 compiler.

My final project to WOW him was an MD5 checksum that did the following.

C# - Terminal input 10 digit serial key (the C# terminal / input would tell you if you were connected, and show progress of communicating to the RS232 port that was plugged into the PIC1845 board). send stuff off to the database.

C - the language of choice using the C18 compiler to communicate to the PIC1845

SQL - I needed a database.

So essentially what the program did was take a 10 digit number from the computer send it to the PIC1845 board do a MD5CheckSum, send it back to the computer, do the checksum on the comp let it match and send that to the database.

I thought it was be a revolutionary way of activating software.

I showed off the program and the CEO was impressed, and then he asked to see the code and I showed it to him.

He was not pleased with the code. He asked me how am I suppose to work on a team if I couldn't write comments explaining what my code does. And he said sorry but i couldn't get the job until I could learn how to write good clean comments with my code.

[taylorc8]

Well, my turn:

1. Research before beginning!
2. I take the long way, worse performance wise, but usually easier to follow an algorithm. (i'm an idiot)
3. Spoiled by my IDE