With my work both in the business world as well as my personal projects like SocialVoter and this blog, I've learned and have improved in how I approach problems during whatever project I'm working on. Many or all of these you probably already know, but I just figured I'd give a little bit of insight along with it.

1. Don't rush things, take your time and work through to find the right solution. Trust me, you'll be in better shape later down the road.

2. Don't be afraid to try something new, or try a different solution than the one you have already built. You may have a working solution, but if you think there's a better way, comment out the code or save it elsewhere and try out the new way. If it works and is more efficient, it will be better in the end and you can get rid of the old way. If the new attempt is a failure then you should have learned something and you can go back to the original solution no big deal.

3. Use a versioning control system like CVS or SVN. You'd be amazed how nice it is to be able to revert back to a previous version after you screwed something up, or just to look at an older version to check something out. And not only can you look at previous revisions, but you also have your code elsewhere too which means should the unthinkable happen, you should be covered.

4. Google is your friend. If you're stuck with a problem where you have a general idea of where to start but aren't sure where to go next, do a few google searches, you don't need someone else to write the code for you, but results might get you help in your brainstorming. I tend to use Google for quick references on some of the more exotic functions as well as for help brainstorming a solution.

5. This one I can personally say is important. Don't be pressured to release before the product or you are ready to. Keep in mind that this might not work so well in a business environment, but if its a personal project, then you may very well have the flexibility to hold off. This sort of goes tandem with #1 but releasing too early can increase bug counts and make your project look weak. To sum it all up, extra time goes a long way.

Not all of these are always feasible in all environments, but I hope this might give you a little bit more insight and/or help for any programming projects you might want to take on.

Well, I just published the latest re-design of my blog. It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Anywho, let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions, I hope you like it.

Also, if you find any bugs, please let me know.