3 ms·
These are all good points but the one I wished people would follow all the time is number 10. I've had to debug code that the original programmers thought was c
by WheelsAtLarge 6y ago
These are all good points but the one I wished people would follow all the time is number 10. I've had to debug code that the original programmers thought was clever and short but every time I've had to spend extra, wasted, time deciphering it. Clever code does not equal good code. The goal should be simplicity.
10. Give Up Writing Smart Code
“Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”
— Brian Kernighan
- shvetsovdm 6y agoBy default, it’s difficult to follow the rule of writing simple, readable code. We want to show how smart we are, how we can write something that others cannot do. It is in our nature. Over time, when we gain experience and self-confidence, we begin to appreciate the simple and understandable code. Another, more difficult, way is to consciously apply the “avoid smart code” rule and follow it every time you solve a problem with code