THE MYTH OF CLEAN CODE: 10 QUALITIES YOUR CODE SHOULD HAVE!

2/26/2018
Zoe Lucas
Object-Oriented Programing , Software Development , Web Development
13 Comments

“Programming is an art of telling another human what one wants the computer to do.” -
Donald Knuth

Communication is an art which can make people fall in love or give you bad compliments it means if you speak
well people will listen and interact with you and if you won’t, you are the odd one out. Your way of communication
defines your goals, delivers your message, shows interaction and creates understanding with different people. It’s
a primary facet of every department of the stage of life. We have to be clear and concise while talking about
anything. In programming world it’s similar. We have to be clear and concise while writing the code so that
computer works efficiently.

Everyone can write a code that computer can understand, but only a good programmer can write a code which a
human can understand easily. Programmers can usually learn different languages and go for a number of
technologies to admire their code, but actually, it won’t give you anything if your code is not easy to understand,
concise and clear. In the programming world, if you write awful code you can’t describe it to another, and it
happens when you write code in pressure. It is a fact; the poorly written code can make life miserable and painful
for the programmer.

Clean code should be readily accessible to others also straightforward, clear intent, and with useful abstractions.
It should be made for the real world and has a clear error handling strategy. The author apparently cares about
the software and other developers which imply both readability and maintainability, and it is minimal with fewer
dependencies. It should also be easy to change; it means easy to extend and refactor. Refactoring is a process of
restructuring code without modifying external behavior.

Characteristics of clean code

Clean code is simple, direct and well-written prose then it should be providing one way rather than many ways of
doing one thing. The qualities of code cite as being characteristics of well-written code. Attributes of clean code
are:

Efficiency Clean code should be swift, and it will be easier to maintain. It tends to be faster as it indicates
that the code was adequately developed and refactored to its core idea.
Maintainability The genuinely maintainable code is to write it for other people to read. It should be a
combination of short, simple, consistent and useful naming with clear logic. Always think with that which
comes after you.
Well Structured Well-structured is how the various objects in a software base work together with each other.
It is essential for the organization as it determines how long it takes and expensive to develop to maintain a
software system.
Regarded by your peers It is a testimony for a suitable job in the profession if something regarded by your
peers. As you know good programmers know the good code and functional programming is when peers say
good about your code and prefer to copy paste from your programs. Understand
Readable Good readability means that when a new developer touches the code, it will take less time to
comprehend what the code is doing.
Reliability Code that is constant will not cause dumps which mean that it is more reliable in the application
and take fewer downtimes to the business.
Follows Standards The code should follow a set of guidelines, rules, and regulations that are set by the
organization. It will assist programmers more easily to understand and maintain source code when it complies
with standards. The consistency and uniformity of code deliver the best communication to the machine.
Extensibility It means how easily code can get used to changing conditions and add to the new functionality.
It is not like that code once written cannot change.

Advantages of clean code

Your code is your responsibility Coder has to make sure about their code that it can appear same to him
even after six months. If you are not competent to classify your code, then you got confused and took a lot of
time to fix it. Follow best practices for the best outcome.
You work in a team Developing a software is a team work and if your team member is unable to understand
your logic by reading code than you are not doing it right and it wastes a lot of time in solving conflicts. Never
give that code to your team member which hardly stays integral.
Easily maintainable and extensible It is tough to add a new module or change an existing one if you never
follow a pattern while developing a project. It should be easy so that any developer can extend or make
changes in it. Every coding needs maintenance and development after six months.
Easy debugging The developer has to log in correctly and use separate classes or method so that one can
debug it and solve the exact issue step by step. If you have just written all coding in one file, without logs and
there is no proper methodology follows than you will end up with the spinning head.
Owner of product Develop a project for a client in the way he can deploy it after completion quickly as he is
paying for source code. If he wants to amend it later, then he can get ease in it.

Clean code principles

There are three essential principles to write clean code:

Always choose the right tool for the coding in developing software.
Optimize the signal-to-noise ratio every time so, that no coding can interfere.
Endeavor to write self-documenting code so, that you can explain it quickly.

Qualities of clean code

Clean code is focused Single responsibility principle should be followed in every coding method which
means if you need to change a class you can able to do it without disturbing any class and the change should
not be coming up with more than one. It is not limit the concept of classes only. SRP is a practical unit on a
given level of abstraction which is accountable for a single facet of a system. It is a trait of requirement which
can change other aspects independently.
Solution for the problematic code The language of the program doesn’t make it simple, but programmer
makes the language simple. The developer shouldn’t use workarounds which make code and language
usually look discomfited. If you declare that means of a workaround can only do something, it means that you
did not spend sufficient time to find a good, clean solution.
Code should not be redundant The code should comply with DRY (don’t repeat yourself) rule as any
modification of any single element doesn’t require a change in other logical unrelated factors. Repetition of
words in coding makes it complicated, and it won’t come in use for any other base system.
Reading your code should be pleasant The code should be readable so that any developer can read it
without spending hours on digging into it. For this, many of developers use KIS (Keep it simple) and YAGNI
(You aren't going to need it) rules. Don’t make codes complex. In this program, simplicity should be a key
goal. It also encourages focusing on the simplest things of the software work.
Easily extended by another developer Write code for others; don’t make it worse for the compiler as we
write it for other developers. If it’s complicated, then it can be torture for others, and we have to take care as
they are our team members. It should be maintainable and extendable.
Minimal dependencies If the code is dependent, then it is harder to maintain or modify in future.
Simplification can help you in future to achieve goals. If the code is dependent, then there is potential
incorrectness.
Smaller is enhanced The code should be minimal in both classes and methods. Preferably, the code will be
in few lines and well divided in every class. The better you split your code, the easier it becomes to read it. It
should also make it pleasant, readable and easier to understand for the developer.
Unit and acceptance Testing is the most crucial factor in coding. How can we do testing and run without fear
that I will stop working? If its maintenance and extendable then we can trust on tests. Coding should stand on
pillars which mean there should be the base which can support if something goes wrong.
It should be expressive Names of the code should be suggestive as they show the intention that what it
works and it also not misleads another developer. It should be distinctive then it makes documentation less
important. The code has to be self-documenting so that it takes less time for understanding.
Complete Software Code Look The functionality of code holds great importance for the developer. The use
of right indentation, spacing and capitalization makes software and program easy to understand. Try to give a
better look to the code as it should be simple apparently.