National Coding Week Q&A with Ian Cartlidge
How do you implement coding to improve the user experience (UX) in products?
Honestly, it really depends on what aspect of UX needs to be improved, for example CSS Grid/Flexbox could be used to improve UI based elements such as buttons or menu items.
What coding practices do you use to ensure products are scalable?
For me, the key practices are asynchronous programming and caching. Since I often handle large amounts of data from APIs, it’s essential during testing to ensure that demanding tasks are performed in small, efficient chunks. This strategy translates well into production, where it minimizes bottlenecks and improves system performance.
How do you balance innovation in coding with maintaining a stable product?
Striking that balance is challenging and really only comes with experience – sometimes, failure is part of the process. However, if you’ve built a stable enough foundation, innovation can be introduced gradually.
How do you use automation in coding to streamline product development?
I use several tools to ensure my code is streamlined. My toolkit includes code linters, code analysers, a code formatter, and a boilerplate generator. Special shoutout to the Emmet plugin – it has saved me so much time!
What security measures do you implement in your code to protect a product and its users?
Everything that’s available, right? Frameworks are incredibly helpful in managing the complex topic of security, making it possible to implement measures with just a simple configuration change. Laravel, for instance, simplifies input validation and sanitization, and its authorization and authentication scaffolding are easy to use.
What advice would you give to people who want to learn code?
Just get stuck in, there are so many helpful tools and tutorials out there to help guide you through even the most difficult of problems. Embrace the learning process, and don’t be afraid to experiment and seek out solutions as you go. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become.