Successful Programmer

At begging I would propose to read 7 Secrets of Successful programmers. I agree with all those suggestions. I would only change order:

1. Expect the unexpected and deal with it
2. Scope functions and variables appropriately
3. Keep your functions and subroutines simple
4. Layout code to increase legibility
5. Name your variables to aid readability
6. Code for human consumption
7. Comment often and comment well

Well, why I put commenting as last? Good code should be self-commenting. You should use meaningful names for functions and variables, have good layout of code. Commenting is very important when your use some unusual code construction or trick. Then it should be explained why. Too often i see comments that describe what is done in current line or block. It is useless. Comment should explain why this line is needed. What is done you can read from code.

Cheers, Paweł