4 ms·

Read Code Complete first then read Clean Code with a healthy dash of skepticism and do not follow it blindly. I still think Clean Code is a great book but does

Read Code Complete first then read Clean Code with a healthy dash of skepticism and do not follow it blindly. I still think Clean Code is a great book but does fall into "the one true way" and dogmatism. This is the advice I give junior developers. I explain that Clean Code turns everything up to 11 and can make the code less readable then more if followed without thought.

Jtsummers 4y ago
Clean Code includes this near the start: > Consider this book a description of the Object Mentor School of Clean Code. The techniques and teachings within are the way that we practice our art. We are willing to claim that if you follow these teachings, you will enjoy the benefits that we have enjoyed, and you will learn to write code that is clean and professional. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that we are somehow “right” in any absolute sense. There are other schools and other masters that have just as much claim to professionalism as we. It would behoove you to learn from them as well. > Indeed, many of the recommendations in this book are controversial. You will probably not agree with all of them. You might violently disagree with some of them. That’s fine. We can’t claim final authority. On the other hand, the recommendations in this book are things that we have thought long and hard about. We have learned them through decades of experience and repeated trial and error. So whether you agree or disagree, it would be a shame if you did not see, and respect, our point of view. Dogmatic texts generally don't tell you to go find other places to learn from.
- dimgl 4y ago
  But Clean Code BAD. Don't you know? Chances are these commenters haven't even opened the book.
  - Apocryphon 4y ago
    Perhaps, but this is far from the only time that book has been criticized on these forums. Here's a comment from the past month alone that goes into why Clean Code has not aged well. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978877 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978877 It's from a thread discussing a 2017 article critiquing the book. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978465 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978465

Jtsummers 4y ago

Clean Code includes this near the start: > Consider this book a description of the Object Mentor School of Clean Code. The techniques and teachings within are the way that we practice our art. We are willing to claim that if you follow these teachings, you will enjoy the benefits that we have enjoyed, and you will learn to write code that is clean and professional. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that we are somehow “right” in any absolute sense. There are other schools and other masters that have just as much claim to professionalism as we. It would behoove you to learn from them as well. > Indeed, many of the recommendations in this book are controversial. You will probably not agree with all of them. You might violently disagree with some of them. That’s fine. We can’t claim final authority. On the other hand, the recommendations in this book are things that we have thought long and hard about. We have learned them through decades of experience and repeated trial and error. So whether you agree or disagree, it would be a shame if you did not see, and respect, our point of view. Dogmatic texts generally don't tell you to go find other places to learn from.

dimgl 4y ago
But Clean Code BAD. Don't you know? Chances are these commenters haven't even opened the book.
- Apocryphon 4y ago
  Perhaps, but this is far from the only time that book has been criticized on these forums. Here's a comment from the past month alone that goes into why Clean Code has not aged well. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978877 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978877 It's from a thread discussing a 2017 article critiquing the book. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978465 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31978465