Granted, anybody operating an online casino or other type of online betting platform has in their hands the power to hire an entire programming team, but either way we can learn so much about development best practices from just looking at the functionality of an online casino. Code extensibility comes into focus as the major lesson to be learned from online casinos, with many specific pointers to take away.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
The mark of a great code module is extensibility which goes beyond the unit as a whole, spilling over into the individual components which come together to make up the whole application. In this instance we’re talking about a web application, of course, but as far as compatibility goes the typical online casino supports multiple platforms on multiple devices.
Getting back to the collection of individual components though, each of these components ideally needs to be able to function on its own, but when they’re all brought together to make up the whole application the value of the application must be greater than the sum of those individual components. That’s what online casinos are, otherwise it would be remarkably easy for any programmer to erect their very own such platform overnight, going at it solo.
Independent updatability
A procedural approach to creating a web application such as an online casino is perhaps necessary for the prototyping phase of the project, but otherwise things need to be moved over to the object oriented approach. This is because as much as you can make your code extensible, for as long as your development approach is procedural, one bug somewhere in the code can bring the entire application to a grinding halt.
On the other hand, since Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) emphasizes the development of individual components which are then brought together like a puzzle that forms a complete picture, bugs are much easier to deal with. The extensibility comes into effect when we consider the changes you’d likely want to make to your platform, changes which in many instances will be mandatory.
In this case then it would make for a much more manageable task since you can work on one code object or module at a time, or even break the extensibility tasks down to the level of the features. Whatever changes subsequently occur, that isolated functionality has no structural effect on the rest of the code and so a localized bug or performance issue doesn’t affect the entire application.
Practicality is what matters most
Some of the world’s best programmers never rise to the kind of fame you’d associate with someone like an online casino magnate and this is because programmers are so busy developing and refining their craft that they don’t have time to think about the financial logistics of an online casino providing and integrating a bonus code into the day-to-day operations of one such online casino that needs to keep running continuously. What they’re concerned with is making the code work and that is where extensibility proves to be the most important part of the equation.
Hey, I’m Rory and I am the ultimate accidental geek.
Born in London I was never interested in technologies until I started a part-time job at Apple and now I can’t get enough. Join me as a help you navigate the world of tech with some of my fellow geeks.