Proper usage of 'to do so'

It is not necessary to initialize variables. However, it is not a good practice to do so.

I'm not sure if the sentence i wrote convey the meaning i intend to. What is understood from the sentence above: 'it is good practice to initialize' or 'it is NOT a good practice to initialize'

any help appreciated. Thanks!

Answer

Here, do so substitutes for initialize variables:

It is not necessary to initialize variables. However, it is not a good practice to initialize variables.

It is not necessary to initialize variables. However, it is not a good practice to do so.

But this seems like the opposite of what you intended to say. Let's remove not:

It is not necessary to initialize variables. However, it is a good practice to initialize variables.
It is not necessary to initialize variables. However, it is a good practice to do so.

This seems like what you wanted to say.