Windows app development is an addiction, but it will only be successful if you follow good patterns. Otherwise, it can be a mess. Coding skills improve over time. It’s been found that 60% of the time is spent learning instead of actually coding the software. So, you will get better coding conventions from other developers when doing it again and again.
You might be a college student, a graduate, or someone with more paper qualifications. Still, you need exposure to the projects to understand how coding actually happens in the industry. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel and waste your time. There is plenty of open-source software online to find out how experienced developers accomplish their job. Following are some of the best kept secrets for successful Windows app development.
Table of Contents
What are the best kept secrets of Windows app development?
Solve the User’s Needs
Testability
Maintainability
Proper Documentation
Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills
Focus on Non-Functional Requirements
Solve the User’s Needs
Most software is a solution to a problem. So, to provide value, the app must solve the problem of the user. It also must be easy to understand and navigate. Businesses are changing, and today’s solutions might not fulfill future needs. So the code must be understood by other developers as well. In addition, the app should:
- Have reliable code, and not crash in unexpected situations
- Provide useful information about errors
- Easily gather many records in the database
Testability
Testability is one of the key things in enterprise-level application development. It should be easy to test in different scenarios before handing it over to customers. IDEs provide great support for testing. For example, Delphi has DUnit test. It’s an open-source unit testing framework based on JUnit test framework. You can use that framework to easily implement test cases.
Maintainability
Today, most applications update regularly. So maintainability is a great concern. Maintainability is about how easy it is for a programmer to make changes to the code and not break anything in the existing code. There are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind to make a maintainable code:
- Follow coding standards
- Variable names must be meaningful
- Purposefully use functions and procedures
Proper Documentation
Nothing makes the new developer understand the code easier than documentation. When you make an Enterprise level application, you must document your classes, interfaces, functions, and procedures to make the other developer’s life easier. Delphi supports To-Do Lists and comments to help developers understand the code.
Improve Your Problem-Solving Skills
Sometimes it is hard work to find a solution to a problem. You may need to explore creative options. If you seek answers online, you will likely find at least one person on the earth who has the same problem you are trying to solve. If that fails, you can always turn to a software’s documentation.
Focus on Non-Functional Requirements
Functional requirements are not the only thing customers expect. Your job as a developer is not finished because you have something functional. You must also focus on non-functional requirements, such as:
- Performance
- Security
- Reliability
- Compatibility
- Usability.
You must plan for these non-functional requirements and select the technologies based on that. There might be a trade-off for some non-functional requirements. So you have to decide based on the scenario. For example, a web application might be compatible with several devices, but it might be a trade-off for performance. Some programming languages will cover most non-functional requirements with minimal sacrifices. For example, Delphi will compile to native for many platforms and you will not sacrifice the compatibility over performance.
Ready to start delivering outstanding Windows app development results?
You are equipped to excel at Windows app development with these tips in mind. To level up your skills, get started with one of Embarcadero’s many tools, or start a free trial today!
