Best Practices

Overview

Following these best practices will help you build maintainable, scalable, and high‑performing applications.

Coding Standards

• Use const and let instead of var.
• Prefer arrow functions for callbacks unless you need a dynamic this.
• Enforce consistent naming conventions (camelCase for variables, PascalCase for classes).
• Write self‑documenting code; keep functions short and focused.

// Good example
const fetchData = async url => {
    const response = await fetch(url);
    if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Network error');
    return await response.json();
};

Performance

• Lazy‑load heavy assets and components.
• Debounce rapid user input events.
• Cache API responses when appropriate.
• Use CSS will‑change and transform for smoother animations.

Accessibility

• Provide meaningful aria- attributes.
• Ensure sufficient color contrast.
• Make interactive elements keyboard‑navigable.
• Use semantic HTML tags.

Testing

• Write unit tests for all pure functions.
• Use integration tests for critical workflows.
• Run tests in CI pipelines on each pull request.
• Keep test code as readable as production code.

Security

• Validate and sanitize all user input.
• Store secrets in environment variables, not source code.
• Use HTTPS for all network communication.
• Implement proper authentication and authorization checks.