Quality is no accident nor can it happen without a conscious effort. In today’s time when change is occurring so frequently in technology, business, and market; it is better to hold your steps for some time before you begin to learn something. Learning is the first step toward bringing the quality end result; be it manufacturing, environment, or software development.
The focus of this blog is on software which will highlight a few important factors to improve the quality of learning to design and develop quality software.
It is so obvious that merely learning a topic without a motive, passion, or focus to manifest something can become boring and redundant for you. And if it is programming, then a few factors must be considered while learning so that the quality can be added consciously during the design and development.
- Categorization of data: Software deals with information. The information is stored in the form of data in several databases. To begin the learning, identification and categorization of data should be the main focus. Once you can identify the data belonging to different areas, it can be categorized elementwise while programming. It will make your coding modularized.
- Configurability: Since the main purpose of any software is to process the data efficiently. So once the categorization of data is finished, it must be configurable. If the software is not configurable it is bad software and that’s where the concern arises. The dynamics of data can be resolved only through the configurability. One must focus on how to categorize and configure the data into several units.
- Framework enabled: Learning must focus on designing and using frameworks. The development should be framework enabled. The framework is the place where configuration can be implemented. It makes your software light, easy to process, and user friendly. For example in SAP, cluster views are used to design the frameworks to configure the variety of categorized data.
- Testable coding: The learning must focus on test-driven development. If the coding is not modular and testable, identifying the bug and fixing it can be a tedious job. Every unit of coding must be developed in such a way that it can be tested in an isolated place independently. This will help to identify the bug more easily.
- Pair Programming: Pair programming is a concept of working two members together on the same task but being one as a programmer and another as an observer. This enables us to avoid errors as much as possible. To document the task becomes easy through pair programming. As a part of learning, Pair Programming must be learned before designing any software.
- Refactoring: Code refactoring is an essential part of learning which is generally avoided. It is a process that involves editing and cleaning up previously written code without changing the functions. It is the best approach to keep the code maintainable and efficient. On one hand, if it improves the readability, on another side it improves the debugging process as it goes much smoother.
- Integration adaptability: Learn to integrate is another important thing to focus on. One must be aware of the future platforms going to be part of the current system landscape. The software should have integration adaptability. The learner should explore various windows to integrate the current system to various other systems running on different platforms. For example, with the arrival of the cloud; several integration tools are being used: APIs, web services, RFCs, HTTP clients, etc. Learning to design software doesn’t mean developing an isolated software rather it must be adaptive to integrate.
- Passion: One pinch of salt can bring a tectonic shift in the taste of food. Passion is that one pinch of salt that can transform your learning enthusiasm and your attitude. One must be open to the outside world, the several businesses running, and various business processes. Pick any sector which excites you and focus on the process you are interested in. Think about any major problem or something you see as an improvement area. Become conscious about resolving through what you are learning.
In fact, there are two kinds of learning: Learning and Passionate learning. The latter is a tool to transform your learning process to a new dimension, to bring quality results and something meaningful to the enterprise and the people.