Wash your code, often
As programmers, writing clean code is something in the back of our minds. It’s like doing all the small things that we focus on in our day to day lives that will keep us productive in the long run. Things like telling Siri to write down a reminder or keeping our workspace clean and organized. While the latter is subject to the definition of “clean”, writing clean code is meant to save us from having to deal with all of the “slop” down the line. It also means keeping things structured and organized, so that when fixes need to be made later, it’s easy to do so. Code that isn’t clean, as we sometimes call as smelly, makes our lives a lot more difficult.
Writer for The Medium, Munikeraragon, gives us a few ways to keep code clean. Let’s look at some examples, and the effects of writing clean code will be obvious.
Consistency
“Consistency is one of the most crucial aspects of clean code. Whether it’s naming conventions, indentation, or file organization, consistency ensures that your code follows a predictable structure. This makes it easier for others (and you) to follow the logic, trace errors, and contribute efficiently.”
Write Small, Focused Functions
“The principle of Single Responsibility states that each function should do one thing — and do it well. When functions are short and focused, they’re easier to understand, test, and debug. If a function grows too large or takes on multiple responsibilities, it becomes harder to track down issues or make changes without breaking something else.”
Prioritize Readability Over Cleverness
“It’s tempting to write complex, clever code that shows off your skills — but this often leads to cryptic, unreadable code. Clean code prioritizes readability and simplicity, even if that means using more lines of code to achieve the same result. Code is read more often than it’s written, so clarity should always take precedence.”
Refactor Early and Often
“Refactoring is the process of restructuring existing code without changing its functionality. It’s a critical habit for maintaining clean code. Refactoring allows you to improve code readability, eliminate duplication, and make your codebase more modular and scalable.”
Use Meaningful Comments
“While clean code should largely speak for itself, there are situations where comments are helpful. Comments should provide context or explain why you did something unusual, rather than what the code is doing. Over-commenting can clutter the code, but well-placed, meaningful comments enhance understanding.”
Test, Test, Test
“Writing clean code also means writing code that can be easily tested. Automated testing is essential to ensuring your code is functional and bug-free. Clean code is structured in a way that makes testing each function or module straightforward.”
After reading how we can write clean code, we can summarize how it benefits us. It allows us to write code that’s reliable, consistent, scalable, and easy to maintain.
Similar to producing code that we can appreciate, we shall avoid writing code that smells bad, ew! Code that smells bad doesn’t actually make us cover our nose, but it does leave programmers, especially experienced ones with a bad taste in their mouth, or a scent in their nose if that’s the route you’d like to go with. Code smells might be more relevant to beginner coders, as a lot of code smells come from bad syntax and code styling. Peep PEP 8.
Out of all the suggested ways to keep code clean, I think I need to test my code thoroughly and often. There are times when I can go for hours of writing code and end up finding logical errors since I left myself no time to test for errors. Instead of doing frequent testing, errors tend to build up and become harder to fix.
Writing Clean Code: Key Strategies | by Munikeraragon | Citrux Digital | Medium
What is a Code Smell? Definition Guide & Examples | Sonar