Questions for best practices for writing high quality code.
140
votes
25answers
8k views
How to convince my boss that quality is a good thing to have in code? [duplicate]
My boss came to me today to ask me if we could implement a certain feature in 1.5 days. I had a look at it and told him that 2 to 3 days would be more realistic. He then asked me: "And what if we do ...
103
votes
30answers
7k views
Is micro-optimisation important when coding?
I recently asked a question on Stack Overflow to find out why isset() was faster than strlen() in php. This raised questions around the importance of readable code and whether performance improvements ...
97
votes
65answers
8k views
Which things instantly ring alarm bells when looking at code? [closed]
I attended a software craftsmanship event a couple of weeks ago and one of the comments made was "I'm sure we all recognize bad code when we see it" and everyone nodded sagely without further ...
96
votes
29answers
14k views
How to be a zero-bug programmer? [closed]
My boss has always told me that a good programmer should be able to ensure that the code he or she changes is reliable, correct, and thoroughly self-verified; that you should completely understand all ...
87
votes
12answers
29k views
Why is Clean Code suggesting avoiding protected variables?
Clean Code suggests avoiding protected variables in the "Vertical Distance" section of the "Formatting" chapter:
Concepts that are closely related should be kept vertically close to each other. ...
77
votes
18answers
6k views
How would you know if you've written readable and easily maintainable code?
How would one know if the code he created is easily maintainable and readable? Of course in your point of view (the one who written the code) your code is readable and maintainable, but we should be ...
72
votes
10answers
4k views
Why should main() be short?
I've been programming for over 9 years, and according to the advice of my first programming teacher, I always keep my main() function extremely short.
At first I had no idea why. I just obeyed ...
71
votes
8answers
9k views
Recursion or while loops
I was reading about some development interview practices, specifically about the technical questions and tests asked at interviews and I've stumbled quite a few times over sayings of the genre "Ok you ...
68
votes
25answers
5k views
Is fewer lines of code always better?
Which of these programming styles is better?
var result = methodOne(methodTwo(a, methodThree(b)), c, d);
or
var result3 = methodThree(b);
var result2 = methodTwo(a, result3);
var result = ...
65
votes
22answers
21k views
How do you define elegant code? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What does it mean to write “good code”?
In a discussion on coding quality, and how you identify it, I came across a discussion on testing people's coding ...
65
votes
13answers
3k views
How can I convince management to deal with technical debt?
This is a question that I often ask myself when working with developers. I've worked at four companies so far and I've become aware of a lack of attention to keeping code clean and dealing with ...
62
votes
10answers
6k views
I'm forced to write bad code. How do I save my face? [closed]
I'm only a junior developer but my job forces me to work with really terrible PHP code (think about the worst PHP code you've seen; then think about code twice as bad). I usually try to fix bugs and ...
62
votes
19answers
11k views
How important is it to reduce the number of lines in code?
I am a Software developer who works on J2SE (core java).
Often during our code reviews we are asked to reduce the number of lines in our code.
It's not about removing redundant code, it's about ...
61
votes
13answers
3k views
Why is DRY important?
Quite simple, why would I want to write code that works for all cases and scalable data when all I need to do is repeat the same process a few times with a few minor tweaks?
I'm unlikely to need to ...
57
votes
14answers
3k views
How can I tactfully suggest improvements to others' badly designed code during review?
I'm a great believer in clean code and code craftsmanship, though I'm currently at a job where this isn't regarded as a top priority. I sometimes find myself in a situation where a peer's code is ...
