It depends on what you prefer. Instead of cucumbers (which I don't care for fresh so I don't grow them) I usually pickle peppers or zucchini spears.
I salt water to taste, then add in enough white vinegar to lower the pH to 4.5 or lower so they are bacteria resistant (but I still refrigerate them, this is not canning them). I add a couple pinches of alum for extra tartness (or you can substitute some ascorbic acid for some of the vinegar if you prefer that taste more, still needing a pH of 4.5 or lower. Alum and ascorbic acid are totally optional, one of those last 5% kind of improvement, less so than other ingredients. I hate sweet pickles so no sugar in mine.
Sometimes I put peppercorns in. Sometimes I put fresh dill in (when it's in-season here, mine is just starting to bolt from warmer weather, or when it's off-season I put dehydrated dill (which is much weaker than fresh) and/or dill seeds in instead, but seeds take much longer to transfer the flavor into the brine) and for my own consumption I'll put some hot pepper flakes in. Sometimes (usually) I'll put some minced garlic in too.
Simmer everything except the vegetable you're pickling for at least 20 minutes, bring the brine up to boiling then put the vegetables in at least long enough to blanch them, which depends on how thick the vegetable is, usually 1.5 to 3 minutes is enough, towards the lower side of that if you want them more firm and crisp. That's if the water quickly returns to a boil, I turn my stove burner up all the way to shorten the time it takes to return the brine to a boil when the vegetables are added and put a lid on to reduce that time further... if the brine doesn't even get back to boiling within a minute or so, you need to add another minute to the blanching time.
Transfer that to glass jars and leave them sitting in the fridge for a week to let more flavor transfer into the vegetables. They'll keep in the fridge for at least a couple months, or longer the lower your pH is. I test pH with pH test strips I bought from... can't remember, it was years ago and got a lifetime supply for only a few dollars.
I might be leaving something out, I sort of go on autopilot when making them while I'm doing something else. The main thing is get the brine pH down to 4.5 or lower so they don't rot before you're done eating them.
Oh, use non-iodized salt if you want them to stay firmer and not darken as much.