10 best practices from top coders at Google, Pinterest & more
十則來自 Google、Pinterest 工程師的金玉良言
At VentureBeat’s DevBeat conference next week, we’re doing things a little differently. You won’t be invited to speak on stage if you can’t code, and we’re setting up practical workshops so you’ll actually learn something and not just be lectured to.
In the spirit of collaboration, I asked some of the most talented web and mobile programmers in my network for their tips. You don’t become a great developer overnight; it takes tenacity, skill, and a willingness to spend many an evening glued to a computer screen.
The most talented programmers have made plenty of mistakes. Here’s what they learned along the way.
A special thanks to Altay Guvench, founder of Silicon Valley tech talent agency 10x Management for helping me compile some philosophical and hands-on advice!
1. Think carefully before you choose your first language
“Programming languages differ, but not a lot. The people who use a programming language differ much more. When you choose a language, you’re choosing a community.” – Sam Kaufman, a freelance iOS developer represented by 10x management
“If you want to prototype fast (especially for founders, who want to iterate on a product), go with either Ruby or Javascript.” – Erin Parker, founder and lead developer of Spitfire Athlete
1、慎重選擇第 1 門語言
程式語言各有不同，不過區別不大。但用語言的人區別就大了。選擇了一門語言你就選擇了一個族群。
– Sam Kaufman，自由職業者，iOS 開發者，10x management
如果你想快速建立原型（尤其對於希望對產品進行 iterate 升級的創辦人來說），那就用 Ruby 或者 Javascript。
– Erin Parker，Spitfire Athlete 創辦人兼首席開發者
2. You’re no code monkey!
“Great developers can architect and build applications. Amazing developers do it with an eye focused on the business. Most people on the business side of the house can’t code, but you certainly can understand the motivations behind a particular feature.
“Too often developers just build what they are told without understanding why they are building it resulting in missed opportunities on both sides.” – John Coggeshall, a freelance web developer represented by 10x Management; a core contributor to PHP
“Becoming great at programming is a noble professional goal. Once you’re there, don’t forget to think about yourself. Do not become any company’s serf or otherwise trade your time on Earth for tchotchkes.” — Greg Sadetsky, a Quebec-based Python and Javascript expert represented by 10x Management; founder of Abri.co, a co-working space
“To meet a deadline, do project communication work ahead of doing technical work (even if it isn’t a prerequisite), because there’s more variance in how quickly other people are able to respond.” – Andrew Wilcox, a web application developer and core contributor to Meteor, represented by 10x Management
2、你不是隻「程式猿」（code monkey）！
偉大的開發者能夠建構並開發應用程式。驚豔的開發者能夠在關注業務的同時做這件事。業務端的人大都不懂程式，但是肯定能夠理解特定功能背後的動機。別人說什麼開發者就做什麼，沒有去理解為什麼要這麼做，導致雙方均錯失了機會，這樣的事情太常見了。
– John Coggeshall，自由職業者，web 開發者，10x Management，PHP 核心貢獻者
精通程式是一個崇高的職業目標。一旦實現了這個目標，別忘了考慮一下你自己。不要成為任何公司的奴隸或者在毫無價值的東西上浪費你的時間。
— Greg Sadetsky， Python 及Javascript 專家，10x Managemen；協同辦公空間Abri.co 創辦人
要想按期完成，得在開始技術工作之前事先進行專案溝通（哪怕這並非先決條件），因為其他人的響應速度千變萬化。
– Andrew Wilcox ，web 應用開發者，Meteor 核心貢獻者，10x Management
3. Stay agile and don’t stop shipping
“Release early, often, and with rap music.” – Max Nanis, a San Diego-based freelance web developer and bioinformatics expert; represented by 10x Management
“Always be testing. A good test suite is a cross between an insurance policy and a canary in the coal mine. It can help you find bugs much earlier in the production cycle, and early bugs are usually easy bugs.” – Jeremy Green, freelance web developer who specializes in Ruby on Rails represented by 10x Management
“Fail Fast. In coding (and in life), I want to know at the earliest possible point that something is broken or not working, rather than let it sit and propagate further. Go all in, fail quickly, fix what’s broken, and keep on keeping on,” – Stephanie Volftsun, cofounder and CTO at Knotch
“Write automated tests for all your code! Practice test driven development as much as possible.” – Zoran Kacic-Alesic, R&D Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic
“Always be shipping. Don’t ship shit.” – Chris Garvis, former lead software engineer at Moveline and former director of backend development for iVillage; represented by 10x Management
3、保持敏捷，不斷交付
早發表，不斷發表，以唱 rap 的節奏發表。
– Max Nanis ，自由職業者，web 開發者，生物訊息學專家，10x Management
不斷測試。好的測試包如保單和煤礦裡的金絲雀之結合。它能幫助你在生產週期中更早地找出錯誤，而錯誤越早發現越容易解決。
– Jeremy Green，自由職業者，web 開發者，專長Ruby on Rails，10x Management
快速失敗。寫程式（及生活）時我希望儘早知道什麼地方不能工作，而不是放任不管讓它增殖擴散。全面放開，快速失敗，修補缺陷，不斷繼續。
– Stephanie Volftsun，Knotch 聯合創辦人兼CTO
為所有程式編寫自動測試！盡可能踐行測試驅動的開發。
– Zoran Kacic-Alesic，Industrial Light & Magic 研發主管
4. Stay in control of the testing process
“Many of the projects suffer from multiple cycles of testing. This adds to delays of projects and causes high-level issues for the organization as a whole.
“Programmers should focus on unit testing their code and semi-regression testing of their code. They know the codebase better than anyone and what changes they impact. Sometimes such changes are missed because QA is testing limited scope, and in turn causes issues in production which can be of significant import.” – Sanjib Sahoo, chief technology officer at tradeMONSTER
“To build defect-free code as quickly as humanly possible, never, ever, say you’ll write the tests later. We know better. Measure test coverage and keep it at 100 percent.” – Seth Purcell, VP of Engineering at Signpost
4、保持對測試流程的控制
許多專案深受多測試週期之苦。這會拖累專案，導致組織整體出現高層次的問題。工程師應該專注於對自己的程式進行單元測試及半回歸測試。他們比其他任何人更了解程式庫，也知道自己會影響到哪些變更。有時此類變更會由於 QA 測試範圍有限而缺失，因此導致生產環節出現重大問題。
– Sanjib Sahoo，tradeMONSTER CTO
要想在力所能及的情況下盡快開發出無缺陷程式，永遠永遠也不要把寫測試放到後面。我們更清楚這一點。要檢查一下測試的覆蓋率，確保100% 無死角。
– Seth Purcell，Signpost 工程副總裁
5. If you’re a freelancer, learn to say no, even to money
“Take any reasonable estimate of time and cost, and double it. If anyone says, ‘This should be straightforward,’ run.” – Ryan Waggoner, freelance web application and mobile developer; represented by 10x Management
5、如果你是自由職業者，要學會說不，哪怕面對的是金錢
要對時間和成本有一個合理的評估，然後把它加倍。如果有人說「這應該很簡單」，那，快逃吧。
– Ryan Waggoner ，自由職業者，web 及行動 app 開發者，10x Management
6. Don’t rest on your laurels — theory matters, but practice matters more
“The best way to improve at building software is to build software. Many ambitious, junior-level engineers spend their free time reading about it: the latest tools, development processes, and the like.
“This is an essential way to spend a fraction of one’s time, but it easily creeps into procrastination territory. Instead, strengthen the part of your brain which builds software by using it as much as possible.” –James Cropcho, a Ruby on Rails expert and instructor at General Assembly
“Always be hacking. Many great coders I’ve met have multiple ongoing side projects. Doing side projects forces you to explore new technologies and learn all aspects of creating an application. You might need to do front end HTML/CSS, backend API integration, database optimization, a mobile app, and set up your own servers.” – Andrew Waage, CTO and co-founder of Retention Science
6、榮譽屬於過去—理論是一回事，但實踐更重要
改進軟體開發品質的最佳方式就是去開發軟體。許多雄心勃勃的剛入門的工程師花了很多的業務時間去讀書，關於最新工具的、關於開放流程的，諸如此類的東西。很多人都是這麼消磨自己的閒暇時間的，但這樣很容易就把你給耽擱了。別這樣，通過盡可能用腦來強化大腦負責開發軟體的那部分。
–James Cropcho，General Assembly 的 Ruby on Rails 專家及講師
不斷探索。我見過的許多工程師手上都有幾個在進行的業務專案。做業務專案迫使你要探索新技術然後學習創建 app 的各方面。你可能需要做前端的 HTML/CSS，後端的 API 集成，數據庫優化，做行動 app，還得設置自己的伺服器。
– Andrew Waage，Retention Science CTO 及聯合創辦人
7. Peer review is your secret weapon
“Peer programming is very essential. Two programmers working on the same module can vet each other’s code. Also the development team should do weekly code review sessions where every other developer gives feedback on others code and explains how it can be better in a positive way. This actually fosters a culture of collaboration and throws away developer egos!” – Sanjib Sahoo
7、互相切磋是你的秘密武器
兩人一組寫程式非常必要。兩個工程師共同開發同一個模組可以相互檢查對方的程式。開發團隊每周也要召開程式審查會議，讓每一個開發者給其他人的程式提供回饋或意見，解釋如何改進程式。這能夠形成一種協作文化。把開發者的自負拋開！
– Sanjib Sahoo
8. Avoid premature optimization like the plague
“Only refactor when the problem and the solution are both staring you in the face – premature refactoring is a huge waste of time. Don’t invest in perfecting anything that might conceivably be dropped in the next six months. And premature optimization is the root of all evil.” –Seth Purcell
“Don’t optimize early! I see engineers over and over again worrying about scaling for one million users when they don’t even have one thousand.” – Mariya Yao, founder and creative director at Xanadu Mobile; mobile developer and designer
8、像躲瘟疫一樣避免過早優化
只有在問題和解決方案都出現在你面前時才進行重構（refactor）—過早重構是時間上的巨大浪費。不要投入半年後可能被扔掉的任何東西的完善上。過早優化是罪惡之源。
–Seth Purcell
不要過早優化！我不斷看到工程師在使用者還沒有到1000 的時候一再對擴充到100 萬的使用者規模擔心。
– Mariya Yao，Xanadu Mobile 創辦人兼創意總監，移動開發者及設計師
9. You write your code once, but people will read it thousands more times
“You’re writing code that a machine will interpret and run, but other people will have to read your code, understand it, work with it. You have to be cognizant that your code will have a future audience. Code is a form of written communication, too.” – Tracy Chou, software engineer at Pinterest
“It may sound strange, but always be considerate of your future self. Ask yourself: If you had amnesia, would you still understand the code you wrote?” – Wai Ching Jessica Lam, cofounder and CTO at Sugarbox
“Do thorough and separate readings of your documentation. Designs change a lot, and sometimes it’s easy to leave outdated comments in your updated code. By keeping it current, you make it easier for people in the future, and yourself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to my own code and thought, ‘What the hell was I doing here?’ Any time I write good comments, I save future me a lot of headaches.” – Kitt Vanderwater, software engineer at Google
9、你的程式只寫一次，可別人會讀它千萬遍
你寫的程式機器會解析執行，可其他人卻需要讀你的程式，理解它、擺弄它。你必須明白，你的程式會有未來的觀眾。程式也是一種書寫形式的溝通。
– Tracy Chou，Pinterest 軟體工程師
聽起來很奇怪，但是你永遠都得替自己的未來著想。問問自己：如果你有健忘症的話，你還能不能理解自己寫過的程式？
– Wai Ching Jessica Lam，Sugarbox 共同創辦人兼 CTO
通讀你的文件。設計改變很多，有時候程式更新的時候註釋不一定會跟進。保持檔案的更新，未來的人（包括你自己）理解起來就更容易。我說不清有多少次我看回自己程式時總在想：「我到底在幹什麼？」只要我寫出了好的註釋，未來頭疼的狀況就少很多。
– Kitt Vanderwater，Google 軟體工程師
10. It’s a noble profession. Use your skills for good.
“Helping others is a deep human need. Find a way to use your work towards the betterment of humanity, and you’ll have it made.” – Greg Sadetsky
10、這是一個崇高的職業。把你的技能用到好的地方。
幫助他人是深層次的人類需求。想辦法用你的工作來改善人類，你就會有成功的把握。
– Greg Sadetsky
Source: INSIDE TW
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