Writing Code

[tomjess]

Is there anyone out there that can give me the names of any VB sites or books that concentrate only in writing VB code.
I have plenty of books on VB, but they don't explain the logical way of writing code.
What I mean is, if I go through these books word for word and do every example, it don't make me a programmer as I don't know how to write code properly.
Thanks in advance.

[Nucleus]

You don't need a book, you need experience

[hellswraith]

I used to think that reading books was all I needed to learn programming, I couldn't have been more wrong. Sure they give you a good start, and can help you a little when your stuck, but they CAN NOT subsitute for actually sitting there trying to create a program. Nothing can. I learn more from writing a program than I do sitting and reading a book for 8 hours. Examining code for hours trying to find a bug makes you a better coder. If you hit a wall, that is what this forum is for, to get you going again.

[MarkT]

After you have the basics down, the best way to learn is just start writing own code and stepping through others code. Also find a project that turns you on and go for it. A lot will be learned that way.

[VIP3R]

Books/WebSites don't help! You need to set a goal and achieve that goal! For Example, your goal is to make an application that can control open windows. Then you make this application, and post the source code in the forums asking to for comments. Users at these forums will help point out bug fixes, more efficient ways to do a task, etc. You learn from what they tell you. THAT'S HOW YOU BECOME A PROGRAMMER. Books/Sites will just show you examples and all you will be doing is copying them which is not going to get you anywhere!

[rudvs2]

You just need to get a few good coding practice habits

Here are some Ones that most programmers use

1) Code Formatting

Use plenty of spaces in your code for ease of reading

Comment as much as you can so when you come back to some code later you can instantly see what you have been doing, this also means that if another programmer needs to work on your code they can find out what you were doing much quicker

Use indenting This really helps when working with nested loops and IF Then statements

2) Set a Standard and stick to it

Set yourself a naming convention and stick with it
There are many variations on naming conventions. However it doesnt really matter what you use for different variable types as long as it is consistant any programmer who might look at your code or try to work with it will always be able to quickly pick up on your naming convention if you are consistant with it.

3) Plan

Before you begin to write a procedure have a think about what it is going to do and work out a basic structure for it.

As you get more experienced you will probably start to plan out your entire projects structure before you even begin to code

But to start with just have a few minutes of thought before writing each procedure

Think about how it will tie into the whole project, are there any other parts of the project that might need to use this

If you think like that you can save yourself heaps of time by making more flexible code and cutting down on the amount of repeat or unnessacry code.

4) Just do it

Lastly just get stuck in and start coding
As you try to solve different things you will start to find out what works best for you and what doesnt

With practice you will soon have developed your own coding style that works best for you