One of the most helpful concepts I learned while coding were coding standards. It is the foundation for creating easy to read, uniform code. It is due to coding standards that finished (professional) projects often look as if one person worked on it. It also reduces security risk as there is less room for bugs and inconsistencies and reduces performance issues by ensuring the reusability of the code and more.
Coding standards have many benefits such as higher efficiency when working on the code. Developers can more easily detect problems in code as it is easier to read and follow and can therefore fix or prevent them from happening. It also ensures that developers are using the most efficient way to code, for example,
$my_array[] = "element";
is more efficient and easier to read than
array_push($my_array, "element");
As I was familiarizing myself with IntelliJ, I had implemented a plugin called ESLint that marks and corrects any coding style errors in the JavaScipt file. I found myself getting several red checks in my code, all marking the mistakes I made followed with suggestions on how to fix them. While it is disheartening to see so many errors on code that runs perfectly fine, after correcting them I realized how much more readable my program became (and the satisfying feeling of clearing the errors in priceless!). I realize that the more I work with ESLint and continue to get these checks, the more I will implement proper coding standards and make habit of writing code that follows these guidelines.
Coding standards are necessary in development to reduce security and performance risks but also have advantages that make life easier for the developer too. There are all around beneficial and worth the headache to make habit of for a lifetime of ease.