Engineering best practices for
effective teamwork

We follow industry standard best practices for desiging, dveloping and engineering your products.

The most wanted professional software engineer skills

Technical skills are the foundation upon which to build a coding career. The more languages you know, the better. It also helps to have experience in different areas. This includes front and back end, Internet of Things, app development, game programming, system programs, robotics, and AI.

However, there are other ways a programmer can improve the quality of their work. This will help future employees to find you as they narrow down their search for talent. Thus, you can get the best deals and positions. These skills are particularly important when working on a large project.

The 4 golden rules

These golden rules enable businesses to obtain straightforward software development across teams.

01

Keep it Simple

Writing simple and concise code is key for effective engineering. This type of code is easy to maintain and ideal for long-term projects.

Perform Automated Tests

Continuous testing is vital for a functioning code. It is a good practice to set automated assessments. That ensures both a superb user experience and straight forward functionality.

02

03

Full Documentation

Coding without documentation is like working without backing up your files. By writing descriptive documentation you help make the process smoother.

Flexibility and Control

The code should be modular and editable. Our engineers use Git as a control base across our different teams. Thus, we get safe backup and can merge the codes seamlessly.

04

01

Keep it Simple

Writing simple and concise code is key for effective engineering. This type of code is easy to maintain and ideal for long-term projects.

02

Perform Automated Tests

Continuous testing is vital for a functioning code. It is a good practice to set automated assessments. That ensures both a superb user experience and straight forward functionality.

03

Full Documentation

Coding without documentation is like working without backing up your files. By writing descriptive documentation you help make the process smoother.

04

Flexibility and Control

The code should be modular and editable. Our engineers use Git as a control base across our different teams. Thus, we get safe backup and can merge the codes seamlessly.

Why choose TechVariable

Submit small pull requests

The ideal pull request should not contain more than 250 lines of changed code. There are many reasons why a pull request shouldn’t be too long. In general, smaller ones contribute to the smooth running of the overall process. For example, they make the reviewer’s job easier. Revising 1,000 or 2,000 lines of code means it will be hard to spot mistakes. So mistakes have a greater chance of reaching the main repository. If that happens, reviewing the lines to find the error must be as easy as possible. For this reason, to avoid bugs, one of our policies concerns the length of the pull requests. This helps keep the team available for further development rather than bug fixing.

Limit each pull request to a specific purpose

In line with the previous point, pull requests must be as specific as possible. We encourage our engineers to fix one bug at a time. Trying to solve more than one error within the same pull request can generate new bugs. Also, if it’s necessary to revert the request, it’s easier if it only reverts one location in the codebase. Of course, the implementation of this principle varies according to the type of project and team. But it’s a factor worth considering.

Know when to ask for help

Programmers should include commit messages to identify the changes that they’ve made. We train our developers to write as much description as possible. This gives context to a code and might help other professionals if they have to revise it. It might be a great source from which future programmers can learn. A description of what you fixed and the purpose of the code is necessary when working on a large project. We recommend attaching a screenshot too.

Know when to ask for help

When you find an issue, the best thing to do is try to figure out the solution by yourself. However, it’s important to know when to ask for help. Spending hours on one bug is not only detrimental for the person but the whole team. Our engineers have a strong cooperative spirit. The ability to communicate with each other consolidates the team and improves efficiency.

Know the people you work with

Generally, engineers work with a variety of people. They will have contrasting skills and knowledge. Programmers can work with UX designers, marketing professionals, content developers, and graphic designers. These professionals may not understand the context of your work. It’s important to consider this when communicating with coworkers. Otherwise, there can be misunderstandings that lead to poor team performance.

Tools and resources

Selenium

This software performs automated tests on apps and browsers. It also automates administration tasks.
It comes in three versions:

Cypress

This is a testing solution to optimize your software performance. Cypress combines different processes into one and simplifies the work.

Git

This is a DevOps tool that’s used to handle coding processes. You can use it for any purpose, but it’s ideal for large software development projects.

It allows engineers to coordinate their efforts and reach a maximum optimization level. Git allows you to track changes and work together with other professionals. The developers are always aware of the ‘big picture’ because they have access to a copy of the entire code. Thus, any change made to the repository can be revised and tracked by other engineers.

Also, team members can communicate with each other regularly. These factors constitute a straightforward workflow across teams. It’s a useful approach, especially during Covid-19, when most people are working remotely.

Pull Requests

This feature makes programmers aware of any code changes. When an engineer changes a piece of code, it must be inserted into the main repository.

When they make changes, they submit them through a ‘pull request’. This not only notifies others of the change, but also allows for follow-up. The system includes a forum to discuss the changes before their integration to the main branch. It allows for follow-up commits. You can track the activity within the pull request, which is very convenient.

Commit Messages

This Git feature is, in essence, a message. Its purpose is to describe what changed and why the code was rewritten.
The sections of a commit message are:

7 ways to improve your programming skills

A smooth organization across units is necessary. But this needs to be further supported by individual talent. Hence, this section presents a few guidelines for programmers to upgrade their skills.

01

Use different
learning methods

Programming is art. Challenging & rewarding, requires constant training. Use flashcards, quizzes, puzzles & design apps for fun learning.

02

Be fluent in
debugging

Debugging is crucial. Learn techniques, not bugs. Saves time and optimizes project development.

03

Learn from other
developer’s work

Learn from others' code for excellence. Analyze, improve & practice regularly for skill upgrade.

04

Write for people,
not computers

Writing code for humans is challenging. Great programmers make it easy for colleagues to understand, review, develop and debug.

05

Get involved
in projects

App development is a great learning field. Meeting standards and objectives can boost your skills and resume.

06

Master one
tool

Learn many tools, and specialize in one stack. Opens doors to excellent job opportunities.

07

Be curious
and nimble

Curiosity is your best friend. Being in constant search of new challenges and knowledge can be profitable. Recruiters love ambitious professionals and value initiative

Conclusion on Engineering Best Practices
for Effective Teamwork

It’s possible to narrow down the best engineering practices into three categories:

Being a programmer is not only about learning coding languages. Attention to detail, the spirit of
teamwork, and being proactive are also important.

Recruiting top talent is the first step towards building a successful development team. The next
step is to provide the necessary tools for workflow optimization.

The balance between these factors determines the efficiency, performance, and profitability of a
software engineering project.

Let our engineering services take your product
development to the next level.