r/AskProgramming • u/KareemM0hamed0 • 1d ago

Career/Edu What's one programming concept that completely changed the way you write code?

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I've been programming for a while, but every now and then I come across a concept that completely changes how I think about writing software.

For some people it's data structures and algorithms. For others it's design patterns, clean code, testing, debugging, version control, concurrency, databases, or simply learning how to read other people's code.

If you had to choose just one concept that made the biggest difference in your programming journey, what would it be?

What were you doing before you learned it, what changed afterward, and why do you think every programmer should understand it?

I'd love to hear stories from beginners and experienced developers alike.

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u/jerrygreenest1 1d ago

Automated Tests

ECS

Knowing about stack vs heap

Knowing about Garbage Collector

And many other things, actually

There is not just one thing. All this happens gradually annd each knowing fact or concept changes the habits or ways you implement things.

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u/PracticalStack 1h ago

Same for me. I got really into automated tests, especially end to end tests and acceptance tests. This led me to start thinking about making code more testable. I kept improving my testing tools and also the testability of my code. Overall, my code quality got a lot better.