The Art of Discipline In Coding, and In Learning to Code

Coding involves focus, determination, and an immense amount of discipline. Discipline when coding is becoming a more and more prevalent skill in the developer community. (It’s also a great life skill!) In this post, we will explore the meaning of discipline in coding, how to stay on task, how discipline helps with growth and development, and finally how it can help you push through failure. 

What Is Discipline?

When it comes to coding, having discipline and being disciplined are both important to your success. The Oxford dictionary defines discipline in multiples ways including, “a method of training your mind or body or of controlling your behavior; an area of activity where this is necessary” as well as “the practice of training people to obey rules and orders and punishing them if they do not; the controlled behavior or situation that is the result of this training” and lastly, “the ability to control your behavior or the way you live, work, etc.” These are all relevant here and refer to both the art of discipline when coding and being disciplined when learning to code.

As we dive into what it means to be disciplined while coding and how it helps to be disciplined in learning to code, we’ll also share personal experiences from students and alumni, and steps to implementing discipline in your everyday projects.

What Is Discipline When Coding?

Each individual will find different elements challenging when it comes to becoming disciplined in learning to code and developing discipline while actually coding. For some, becoming a disciplined programmer may mean learning to consistently write clean and well-documented code, while for others it may mean following a strict coding style guide or norm. Discipline when coding can also apply to the process of debugging and testing code before releasing it to production. 

In general, discipline when coding refers to the act of writing code that is well-organized, well-documented, and free of errors (after debugging and testing). It also means following best practices for coding standards and style guides.

What Is Discipline When Learning to Code?

The Oxford definition of discipline of interest to us when learning to code is, “the ability to control your behavior or the way you live, work, etc.” Being in control of your coding journey is crucial to your success along the way.

By managing external factors and setting yourself up with a positive working environment and mindset, you will be able to stay motivated, progress in coding knowledge and competency, and meet deadlines for any coursework or projects. You need to continually make the conscious effort to work hard and seek help, especially if you’re stuck on something that you know will push you to the next level. It’s easy to give up, or procrastinate and put a project on the back burner for months, but having discipline and committing yourself to success is what will get you to the finish line and excel you into your career quicker.

Spending focused time coding, working through coding assignments, going back to practice concepts or exercises you aren’t fully fluent in, and continuing to pursue difficult projects will make you a better programmer in the end. Although not required, those who are disciplined in their studies will do this and be stronger. If you’re disciplined, you will not give up easily, and the structure of practice and persistence over a period of time will prove highly valuable on the job as a programmer, developer, or engineer.

How Discipline Helps Increase the Quality of Your Code

If you want to produce high quality code, you need to be disciplined when coding. That means having a consistent coding style, respecting the appropriate norm, following best practices, and being rigorous in your testing and debugging. It takes discipline, though, to do this each day, but your code quality will improve and you will build positive lifelong habits.

Being disciplined when coding also means being organized. You need to keep track of the different parts of your code, and how they fit together. This can be done using a version control system like Git, by using comments, by maintaining clear file names and respecting best practice naming conventions, by planning your structure or architecture (and updating your plans as they change throughout the project).

Finally, being disciplined when coding means knowing when to ask for help. If you’re stuck on a problem, or you’re not sure if your code is up to scratch, don’t be afraid to reach out to your colleagues or other developers for advice. Asking for help can feel like a blow to our pride, but not putting off asking other people takes discipline, and becomes easier with time.

How Discipline Helps With Focus

There are a lot of things that can interfere with our focus when we’re trying to code. Maybe we’re stressed about a looming deadline, or we’re distracted by notifications from our chat application(s). Whatever the case may be, it’s important to have discipline in having uninterrupted time to code and focus on our work.

One way to discipline ourselves is to set aside a specific time for coding, and then stick to that schedule. If you know you have set aside two hours for coding, then turn off distractions and focus on your work during that time period. Another way to increase our focus is to take breaks regularly (and by that we don’t mean a 30-min break after 10 minutes of work!), which can help us avoid burnout and allow us to come back to our work refreshed and ready to focus again.

Ultimately, the key is to find what works for us as individuals and then stick to it. Whether that means setting a timer, working in short bursts, or taking regular breaks, discipline is what will help us maintain our focus so that we can get our work done efficiently and effectively.

5 Key Tips to Stay Disciplined When Coding

When it comes to coding, discipline really is key. Here are five tips to help you stay disciplined when coding:

1. Set aside dedicated time for coding. Whether it’s an hour each day or three hours each week, make sure you have dedicated time set aside specifically for coding. This will help ensure that you don’t get sidetracked by other tasks and that you make progress on your projects.

2. Create a schedule and stick to it.

3. Don’t get distracted by social media or other things online.

4. Take breaks when you need them, but don’t let yourself get too comfortable.

5. Stay focused on your goals and don’t give up if you hit a snag. 

Following these tips will help you maintain discipline while coding and ultimately lead to better results.

Qwasar Student and Alumni Experience in Discipline 

We reached out to a few of our students and alumni, and asked for their input on discipline in coding and to share their experience in staying disciplined in learning to code.  Some advice from a recent interview with a Qwasar alumni, Brendan Wilhelmsen, “Pick one thing and go pretty deep in that one thing. Oftentimes, that will lead you down other paths. Keep your focus narrowed because it is so easy to get lost in the sea of information that is out there.”

The Qwasar community had lots to share on the topic of discipline, as they have learned ways and techniques to stay disciplined (or learn it!). The following experiences involve questions our students have shared with us to provide insight into their personal experience. 

Demitrus Says Discipline is Critical

What role does discipline play in coding?

Discipline is absolutely critical! One of the biggest reasons is that in computer programming a significant amount of time is debugging - sifting through cryptic messages.  And if you're really trying to understand the "mind" of the computer, pig-headed discipline is the only thing that will get you through.  And in the age of online learning, developing the habit to sit down alone, wade through error messages and ultimately develop quality code can only be achieved with discipline.

How have you helped or inspired yourself to be more disciplined?

Although I was aware, it oddly became clear that you can really learn anything– through focus, commitment and iterating through failures. I already had discipline and structure, but seeing my quick growth in programming, something I never thought I could do, it became clear that it was directly proportional to my level of discipline. This is what I bring to my new position and expect to have similar results.

Colin Shares: 'You Get Out What You Put In'

What role does discipline play in coding?

Coding plays a big role. I think it ultimately equates to what you put in, is what you'll get out. I think becoming more disciplined in coding has also helped out in other aspects of my life in a good way, because I'm able to start and finish more things.

How have you helped or inspired yourself to be more disciplined?

I still struggle a lot with staying disciplined but I try to picture the bigger picture which is having a successful career. I try to just stay positive and take little steps to overall improve my habits so that I'm not overwhelmed. I also find motivation by just remembering that there's no progress without struggle. I think that to accomplish any goal takes failure so I just try to accept that and keep pushing.

In Conclusion

Discipline when coding is important for two main reasons. First, it helps you to produce cleaner, more readable code. Secondly, it can help you to avoid mistakes and errors in your code. By following some simple guidelines and techniques, you can significantly improve your coding discipline and the quality of your code.  

Creating and sticking to a coding discipline can be difficult, but it's important to do if you want to be a successful coder. A coding discipline helps you stay organized, makes your code more reliable, and makes it easier for others to read and understand your code. Fostering these ideals throughout every line of code makes you a better developer and improves your programming skills. There are many different ways to create a coding discipline, so find one that works for you and stick with it. With a little discipline, you'll be surprised at how much better your code will become.