If you want your electronics to work: 1. Read the datasheets for everything and follow all restrictions, like on safe operating area (SOA), in regard to curren

If you want your electronics to work: 1. Read the datasheets for everything and follow all restrictions, like on safe operating area (SOA), in regard to current and ambient temperature and so on. Use appropriate heat sinks. 2. Unless you have good reasons or confidence coming from somewhere, do not stray far from the example circuits in the datasheet. If they call for certain decoupling capacitors, have those. If something has a minimum and/or maximum load impedance, be in that limit (same as point 1). 3. Do not design anything to depend on the performance of an individual part, in regard to some performance parameter that has lots of variance in mass production of those parts. This is particularly a problem for analog components; e.g. current gain of bipolar transistors and such. In simulation, play with variances in part values to see how sensitive it is; you can choose tolerances accordingly. Maybe some resistors need only 5%. 4. Good PCB layout and so on. Careful breadboard work. Proper soldering practices. Solid power supply circuits operating well within their capacity range. Proper grounding. Safety devices: fuses, diodes, etc.