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“Effortless to follow” is eloquently put. When I interview candidates during recruiting I often ask the open ended question “what is good code for you” as it g

“Effortless to follow” is eloquently put. When I interview candidates during recruiting I often ask the open ended question “what is good code for you” as it gets people talking. There is rarely a wrong answer. Usually, there is a difference in answers between more junior and more senior programmers. More senior candidates focus more on the readability & maintainability, while more junior programmers focus on accuracy, speed, following style-guides etc. For me “good code” is code that is easy to change. Most things follow from that: easier to understand makes it easier to change. Do 1 thing (SRP), makes it easier to change, etc..

baobabKoodaa 5y ago
> When I interview candidates during recruiting I often ask the open ended question “what is good code for you” as it gets people talking. There is rarely a wrong answer. I don't mean to be snarky, but if there is rarely a wrong answer to this question, then it doesn't sound like a good interview question to me. Having been through a bunch of interviews, I don't understand the obsession over clean code. I would understand it better if these questions helped pass/fail candidates or rank candidates (to help decide salary or position inside company). But it doesn't seem to be the case. It seems like the feel-good talky-talk over clean code in interviews is nothing but a waste of time (with "rarely a wrong answer").
- andruby 5y ago
  > I don't mean to be snarky No worries. I should’ve included it more clearly in my comment. I use the question to gauge seniority and experience to help determine salary proposal. As I mention, there is typically a difference in the answer of a junior programmer (or someone who’s used to being a solo-dev) vs a senior dev that worked on larger projects with bigger teams. Moreover, the question is about _good_ code, not clean code.

baobabKoodaa 5y ago

> When I interview candidates during recruiting I often ask the open ended question “what is good code for you” as it gets people talking. There is rarely a wrong answer. I don't mean to be snarky, but if there is rarely a wrong answer to this question, then it doesn't sound like a good interview question to me. Having been through a bunch of interviews, I don't understand the obsession over clean code. I would understand it better if these questions helped pass/fail candidates or rank candidates (to help decide salary or position inside company). But it doesn't seem to be the case. It seems like the feel-good talky-talk over clean code in interviews is nothing but a waste of time (with "rarely a wrong answer").

andruby 5y ago
> I don't mean to be snarky No worries. I should’ve included it more clearly in my comment. I use the question to gauge seniority and experience to help determine salary proposal. As I mention, there is typically a difference in the answer of a junior programmer (or someone who’s used to being a solo-dev) vs a senior dev that worked on larger projects with bigger teams. Moreover, the question is about _good_ code, not clean code.