Hardest parts of coding?

[Steve32]

What's the hardest part of coding in your opinion and why?

Finding errors, missing codes or somethings else?

 

[Ron Killian]

Years back I worked at learning PHP, MySQL and wasted SO much time.

I say that because just about anything you need is already out there and ready to roll, ready to go solutions. If not you could hire some one to code it for you. For me, I'd rather spend my time doing what can make me money then trying to figure out code.

Unless your going to do it as a way to make money, I personally don't think it's worth getting too deep. It does help to know how to say edit PHP code. But building something from scratch and getting it to work can be a huge task. Depends on the person too.

The exception for me is CSS. That is a coding skill I want to know more about. Mainly to tweak my blog themes. I can do pretty good, but I still don't completely "get it" yet.

Hope that wasn't too negative.

I had a real good friend who wanted me to help him get started online, to make money. I said I wasn't going to help friends any more, but I decided to help him. Remember his goal was to make extra money. Well, he thought it would be good to learn PHP. See where I am going with this? After like 2 years, mostly spent dabbling with PHP, he didn't make a dime. It was ONLY after he actually started doing what I suggested, that he had some money coming in.

As always, just my opinion.

 

[arindamb]

Years back I worked at learning PHP, MySQL and wasted SO much time.

Where have you learn from? ebooks udemy or lynda course?

Unless your going to do it as a way to make money, I personally don't think it's worth getting too deep. It does help to know how to say edit PHP code. But building something from scratch and getting it to work can be a huge task. Depends on the person too.

I agree with you, spending time to build a website from scratch is not a good choice. Developing from codes will save our time.

After like 2 years, mostly spent dabbling with PHP, he didn't make a dime. It was ONLY after he actually started doing what I suggested, that he had some money coming in.

What have you suggested him to make him some money? :crazy:

 

[Ron Killian]

Ron Killian

I of course am not being negative about learning coding, just that for most people who are looking to earn online, it can be a huge waste of time.

Just showed him what I was doing, selling digital products.

 

[rainmaker11]

What's the hardest part of coding in your opinion and why?

The hardest part of coding is you have to find errors when your script doesn't run as your exception or develop a project from scratch so that you must do hand codes at all.

 

[adlersmith]

As an experienced developer creating in house applications, the hardest part is getting the client to tell you want it is they want. If you ask the same individual twice you will get two different solutions.

 

[Developer]

Developer

As an established programmer, I could not agree with this statement more as it is SOOOOOOO true. So, instead of asking my clients what they want, I always ask what results they are trying to achieve, then, I give them what I think they need.

And, I am usually dead on with my results.

HOWEVER, I'm going to assume that that really doesn't answer your question the way you expected it to, LOL, so, I will also add that ONE of the hardest parts of coding is debugging -- finding mistakes and fixing them, HOWEVER, this can be easily trimmed by making sure to use CLEAN code and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS commenting your code, especially when first starting out.

COMMENT EVERYTHING

Using COMMENTS throughout your code will enable you to know exactly what each part of code does what and what should happen when that part of the code is executed. This may not necessarily help alleviate any problems initially, but will certainly cut down the amount of time you spend trying to FIND the problematic code when debugging.

STAY UP TO DATE

Another difficult aspect is keeping up with all the updates and changes. PHP, for example, is constantly changing. A script you write today, and one that runs flawlessly and beautifully, may fail miserably with the next major update. It can be a PITA (pain in the arse), however, if you're passionate about programming, then, you will overcome the adversity of a constant evolving realm.

DON'T REINVENT THE WHEEL

Another important factor is to remember to try NOT to reinvent the wheel. As Ron already pointed out, "...just about anything you need is already out there and ready to roll ..." but do not let that be a determining factor in your decision to code. No code is EVER going to do exactly what you need, exactly how you need to do it. Using the plethora of code which already exists is a great way to START any of your projects and can save you an absurd amount of time.

TINKE'ERS

Another difficult factor is working with, or for, other people who like to "tinker". If you ever come across one a "tinker"er, it's important to know that you should definitely make it known that any "fixing due to tinkering" will be charged at 1.5 your normal hourly rate, which brings me to one last difficult factor... (I have one client who I KNOW will tinker when I am done, and I know he will ALWAYS mess SOMETHING UP, so, I have gotten to the point where I always end up charging him 3X what I would normally charge, because, I KNOW I will have to go in and fix something -- which, for me, is as simple as re-uploading my backup copy, lol)

PRICING...

It's important to know, realize, understand and believe that as a programmer, TIME is your most valuable asset, and as such, you need to charge accordingly. Charging $20 for a 6 hour job just because your clients mails you and says "I can get so and so to do it for $25" is absurd. If they can get a lower price elsewhere, tell them to go elsewhere. Yes, it's important to charge a fair fee, but to undercut yourself just to outbid some "kiddie scripter" is a surefire way to kill your business and reputation long before you even build it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have been known to work on a project for MUCH LESS than I would normally charge, but, if you're just starting out, or doing something for a loyal customer or simply looking to earn a few bucks here and there, then feel free to charge as little as you want.

If you're serious however, and believe in your talents, then charge appropriately for your time.

Your time is worth much more than $2 and hour. Hell, you could make more than that slinging burgers at a fast food joint, true?

BACK UP, BACK UP AND BACK UP AGAIN

One final note. As with anything you do, it's vital to keep backups of everything you do. And, once you have a backup copy, make a backup copy of your backup and even a final backup of your backed up backup, lol. Seriously though, whenever you're done with essential parts of your coding, save it and save a backup. Or, to make it easier for you, use an editor that does auto saves for you, but still continue to take the time to create a backup as well.

 

[Hawker]

What's the hardest part of coding in your opinion and why?

Finding errors, missing codes or somethings else?

Steve, some great answers given here already, but when you say coding what type of coding do you mean software coding or website coding?

Its just that there's several types of code most webmaster will come across from HTML, CSS, PHP, JS, JQ, SQL, ASP etc etc and then of course there's computer languages like Python, Ruby, C++, VB, Java & Perl which are some common programming languages.

Do you mean any specific one of those programming languages or each and all of them?

As for me its when developers do sloppy jobs and you have to go in after them and clean up their mess or rewrite programs from the ground up anything tedious like that that could have been prevented.

 

[acquisto]

The hardest part is getting unstuck.

The experience of encountering annoying and unexpected problems is a daily occurrence for software developers, and a lot of beginners are simply not aware of these challenges that will arise.

Without the right mentality, a regular barrage of difficult and surprising problems can make learning how to code frustrating. Some developers even start to doubt their own abilities, which can feed into impostor syndrome.

Books, online tutorials, and group classroom-style training don't teach as effectively as mentorship. These resources cannot tailor an individual student's learning. They don't teach students how to ask the right questions or how to break down complex problems and think about them in different ways. And they aren't good at keeping students on track, accountable, and motivated.

 

[brianlee1982]

To me, the hardest part would be to enhance a legacy system, where you need to understand the system original flow design, or else, you will break it. And to make it backward compatible as well.

With the limited timelines, sometimes, u need to argue that out to have a reasonable timeline to finish ur task.