Financial reports can feel intimidating, especially for founders without a finance background. But understanding the basics can dramatically improve decision-making and confidence. In this practical guide, Rebecca Nankya Ssemugabi breaks down how to read a balance sheet in simple, everyday language, supported by a hands-on balance sheet generator you can try yourself. M ost founders don’t struggle with running a business. They struggle with understanding the numbers behind it. And few reports feel more intimidating than the balance sheet. But here’s the truth: a balance sheet is simply a snapshot of what your business owns, what it owes, and what’s actually yours at a specific point in time. The Balance Sheet in One Line Every balance sheet is built on one simple equation: Assets = Liabilities + Equity Assets are what the business owns Liabilities are what the business owes Equity is what belongs to the owner(s) If this equation balances, the balance sheet makes sense. A Simple Exa...
Coding is one of the professions with a profound impact. Programming enabled humans to land on the moon; it revolutionized businesses, created millions of jobs, and digitized every aspect of our daily lives.
However, programming has its fair share of pitfalls that result in huge losses of money and resources. These pitfalls emanate from simple, but bad programming habits. In this article, we’ll discuss five tips that would make your program error-free.
So let’s dive in right away:
1. Avoid copy-pasting/plagiarizing code from websites: However, it is entirely normal to search for any problem on Stack Overflow, if you get stuck somewhere. Similarly, it is also reasonable to copy code when you are learning. But a blindly copy-pasting snippet of codes from a website is a bad practice.
It hinders you from realizing your full potential. It is very enticing to take a shortcut, but it would hurt you in the long run. You would become so reliant on online help that you won’t be able to stand on your feet as a programmer. Similarly, you may not find the exact code in the first place.
2. Shun cluttered coding: It seems crappy and difficult to read. It tells about your personality too. Clear, clean, and structured code with proper indentation shows clarity of thoughts and concepts. Similarly, if someone else reads your code, they would appreciate the style and ease of reading.
3. Comment more: Commenting in the programming is there for a reason. It is beneficial not only for others when they read your code, but for you as well. If you are reading your code after some time, you may forget why you wrote that function and why this variable is local or global.
Further, in big companies, teams comprising several programmers work on the same code simultaneously. It almost becomes mandatory to comment so your colleagues can understand it.
4. Bad naming practice: The variables, functions, and classes, etc., should be named properly. They should be meaningful, e.g., instead of naming variables x, y, a, and b, using variables such as ageStudent and feeStudent. Besides easy identification, they won’t create confusion when you are on line number 1,664.
Similarly, it is almost an ethical responsibility to give back to your community. If you have successfully solved glitches in the code or discovered something new, you should tell other programmers. They would love you for this kindness.
How many of these bad practices do you do during coding? Let us know in the comments. If you have something to add, feel free to communicate.
Check, also: Behind the Code: Struggles Only Programmers Face,
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