by Carl Bunton 4 years ago 
As you begin your coding journey, you will certainly experiment with a plethora of programming languages, code editors, and IDE’s, among other things. While this provides variety, it becomes challenging to figure out the best way of organizing your projects. Developing a solid organization structure while coding fosters productivity. However, finding the best organization structure can be daunting, especially in the first days of coding when you have multiple small projects you would like to keep as a reference. If you are currently experiencing the same, consider the following strategies for organizing codes.
Organizing by Component
Organizing your codes by component eliminates complexity, as it emphasizes the internal and external coupling of various code units or packages. Internal cohesion implies that the package has a minimal interface that exposes concepts strongly related to services provided by the components only. On the other hand, external cohesion means that the codes within the package are strongly interrelated to the service provided.
A good abstraction code unit features many details. For instance, new code units should be created by identifying subsets of functionality in one or more preexisting packages. You should then create a new abstraction from a corresponding code, which further breaks down into small units. While this leads to codes that look easier to digest, minimal complexity can be achieved by eliminating dependencies among the units.
However, expert programmers suggest that code packages with mutual dependencies should not be identified as separate units as none can be understood in isolation. Unfortunately, isolating codes requires a lot of experience, as you should identify suitable components and appropriate isolating strategies. Most beginner programmers start the process, only to realize that they didn’t get the abstraction right from the beginning. Nonetheless, the rewards of isolating code components properly are codes that are easy to understand, easy to test, easy to improve, and reuse.
Organization by Toolbox
Unlike organizing codes by compartments, the toolbox approach focuses on external cohesion. This provides a consistent toolbox that consumers can choose from. As it only deals with external cohesion, this format is comparably weaker than organizing codes by compartment as it ignores internal cohesion.
Code libraries are often organized in a toolbox with several complementary implementations. The collections feature a set of interfaces and varying characteristics, such as memory consumption and time complexity. Another unifying structure within a toolbox is the disk-based code data structure. Despite being weaker, toolboxes are great as they are convenient to consumers.
Organizing by Layer
Unlike toolbox and compartments, organizing codes by layer suits workflow cohesion instead of controlling the code’s complexity by minimizing coupling. In this case, codes are split along boundary layers defined by several aspects, such as deployment scenarios and contributor responsibility. This strategy differs from the toolbox organization, as it doesn’t present a single and coherent interface. Instead, it presents a wider interface with multiple constituents.
Typical features of organizing by layers are the logical coupling of components, which is stronger, coupled with logical components spanning across the layers. However, this strategy often fails since changes require touching files from all layers. Therefore, it should be used cautiously to avoid increasing overall system complexity.
Organizing by Kind
Organizing codes by kind aims at bringing order to complex code units by throwing parts into buckets categorized by class or interface. By doing this, it ignores the dependencies and conceptual relationships between codes. It also produces code packages with specific names, such as managers, exceptions, interfaces, entities, or helpers.
For beginners, organizing by kind can be challenging, as it hides the initial issues within the complex code. As such, you might feel that you have fixed the code, but the complexity is still present.
Use IDE for Small Projects
Despite software development being the brains behind new applications and software, tools used by coding enthusiasts are slightly behind time. Unlike office administrators and other industries that began using cloud applications for better collaboration and accessibility, software developers recently created cloud IDE’s (Integrated Development Environment) that can help in tidying your local computer by moving small projects into the cloud.
Most IDEs enable programmers to create a workspace directory that they can save all projects. Cloud IDEs typically run on web browsers with a virtual box that provides developers with memory and storage for all projects hosted on the service. What makes this best is that you can access your workspace from any computer without installing anything.
Conclusion
Staying organized while coding is an essential skill that software developers should improve. With the wide array of strategies for organizing codes, getting to know useful and dangerous strategies is prudent, especially since coding can be slow and messy for new devs. Consider taking online classes if you feel like your education is what’s holding you back. Classes and Bootcamps range heavily in price, so check for discounts before you apply. Check out the G.I. Bill’s benefits if you’re in the military or a veteran. If you work at a company, ask your boss if they might be willing to expense the cost as part of your employee education.