(As published in Brainstorm! July 2005)

After reprogramming many pre-existing web sites to make changes and updates for clients, we have seen some pretty horrid web sites - at least from the backend. Although the web site might appear in order, understandable and functional from the user's perspective, the backend coding is where all the work takes place.

When we look at web sites to evaluate for price quotes, we like to take a look at the existing code to see how the last programmer put it together. If it's easy to read, understand, and is chunked out into function calls, it sure makes a programmer's life easier.

So, when it comes to programming your web site, here are some guidelines your developer should follow:

1. The code should be written in a reusable fashion. If the program uses many function calls (little orders within the program that tell the system what to do), most times the same function calls can be used over and over throughout your web project. Reusable code saves the programmer time by not needing to write the same function calls many times. Also, having these reusable codes in one page called an include file will help to standardize how things work throughout the web site and makes changes quick and easy.
2. The code should be organized so it is easy to read. Remember, the code that drives your web site is a system; and as with any other system, organization is the key. Clearly organizing the code will save hours of time (and money) when you need to add, change, modify or troubleshoot your site later.
3. The code should be documented in some way. There are a couple of ways to do this: either by separating out the code into mini functions that are self explanatory, or by inserting comments into the code about what the function does. This will help if someone needs to take over the programming process down the road. Should someone not be around to continue working on your web site, having well-documented code will still get the message across as to what the programming does.
4. The use of variable names should be consistent. A program refers to a variable's value by the variable's name. The way a programmer uses variable names can create an organized way of processing data or make it an utter nightmare. Variable names should easily identify what information it refers to. Using too many similar names will be confusing and make programming harder to troubleshoot.

At Whole Brain Technologies, we pride ourselves on our "clean" code so that we, and other programmers, can easily identify what's going on behind the scenes. If you're looking for someone to take over your existing site, add more functionality, or you want to make sure your web programming is done right the first time, be sure to contact us. Whole Brain Technologies: the smarter solution to the web.

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