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Software Design

Never rewrite code?

Is it a bad idea to rewrite code or an entire system? At some point, developers want to rewrite for various reasons. Often, it’s because we simply don’t understand the existing codebase or think it’s a tire fire. But is the benefit there? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no. It’s a pretty nuanced topic around cost/benefit. YouTube Check out my YouTube channel, where I post all kinds of content accompanying my posts, including this video showing everything in this post. Rewrite When it comes to software development, the debate over whether to rewrite code never ends. Some developers always want or have the urge… Read More »Never rewrite code?

API Error Messages for a GOOD Developer Experience

Debugging and troubleshooting are a big part of a developer’s day-to-day. Because of this, when designing your APIs, provide good API error messages as well as guide developers down a path of success and makes it easier for them to understand issues when they need to troubleshoot. YouTube Check out my YouTube channel, where I post all kinds of content accompanying my posts, including this video showing everything in this post. Meaningful Error Messages When designing an API, it’s important to consider the experience of the developers who will consume it. A well-structured error message can serve as a guiding light, illuminating… Read More »API Error Messages for a GOOD Developer Experience

Enums aren’t evil. Conditional statements everywhere are

Are you seeing the same conditional statements (if/switch) against enums littered everywhere? There are different ways of handling that, but a lot of it comes down to your context. Conditionals around type checking, extension methods, Inheritance, and Polymorphism are all options. YouTube Check out my YouTube channel, where I post all kinds of content accompanying my posts, including this video showing everything in this post. Enums The original examples of this problem come from a video by Nick Cosentino, which he tagged me in. The gist is that there are a lot of conditional, in this case “if statements,” throughout a codebase… Read More »Enums aren’t evil. Conditional statements everywhere are