99% of what you're talking about is in the book Code Complete. It's probably the best US$50 on programming knowledge I've ever spent. If you're serious about wanting to have programming be your (current) career, read it. It's a very long book, and it assumes some knowledge of programming. But, it will explain, not only what, but why as well.

The best non-literary way of making sure you're doing things right is to write a bunch of stuff, then not look at it for six months. (Yes, I know that's a long time!) Then, go back and look at it. If you could understand what you were doing without scratching your head too much, you did it right. If you can't, fix those issues in the code you're working on right now. (Leave the crap you wrote before ... it's worthless now.)

A number of monks have always said that code should be self-commenting, irregardless of the other documentation. I whole-heartedly agree with this and, 3 years out of school for Computer Science, I've been improving my coding style. (Just to let you know you're not alone. *grins*)

Good luck!

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/me wants to be the brightest bulb in the chandelier!

Vote paco for President!