The Process, something all of us have, whether we admit it, or not. When we find an obstacle, big or small, we analyze & solve it (or not) according to these guidelines we have built for ourselves over time.
As a developer, you also have a Process. This could be either very short, or pages and pages of numerically numbered bullet points with checkboxes. But no matter what it looks like, you must have it, follow it and obey it.
The Process is your way of handling a single instance of work, this could be a bug fix, a single line change, some new method or function or whatever. It can be scaled up and down to suite almost any situation and will ensure that you can do your work to the best of your abilities.
A very basic version of a Process looks like this.
Analysis Phase
Do I understand the Issue at hand?
No? then find out as much as you can about it, get a proper grasp of the issue. Ask your seniors, the client, whoever can give you the answers.
Can I solve this Issue?
No? then ask either another (more experienced) developer, also, the internet is your friend, USE IT.
Coding Phase
This is usually the easy step, you write your little bit of code, some comments, et voilà, next part…
Testing Phase
Any bugs?
Yes? then re-implement The Process.
Does this fulfill the requirements for the Issue to be complete?
No? then re-implement The Process.
Your Process doesn’t need to look like this, its just an example, but it gives you a good idea of what a Process’s function is. Best thing to do is, keep it simple, straight forward, and easy for YOU to follow. Remember this is your process, nobody else’s, so make sure it works for you.