Best coding practices

Coding best practices are a set of informal rules that the software development community employ to help improve the quality of software.

Many computer programs remain in use for long periods of time, so any rules need to facilitate both initial development and subsequent maintenance and enhancement by people other than the original authors.

In Ninety-ninety rule, Tom Cargill is credited with an explanation as to why programming projects often run late: "The first 90% of the code accounts for the first 90% of the development time. The remaining 10% of the code accounts for the other 90% of the development time." Any guidance which can redress this lack of foresight is worth considering.

The size of a project or program has a significant effect on error rates, programmer productivity, and the amount of management needed.