What Is Clean Code? & Why Should You Care?

Clean is anything that’s simple, direct & easy to understand. Clean code is a word with varying definitions but they all share a similar understanding. 

Robert C. Martin wrote the book Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship where he defines it as:

“A code that has been taken care of. Someone has taken the time to keep it simple and orderly. They have laid appropriate attention to details. They have cared.”

Many have taken the time to understand it and the most well-known definition has been that it’s a code that is easy to understand and change. Many developers work on a particular code over time and when they can modify the code for new features or designs and it doesn’t disrupt the design or flow it’s a code easy to change.

Example

When the purpose of any project is to deliver features at a successful and steady rate, having a code that is clean and maintainable at the base becomes necessary. Let’s try to understand the clean code and its purpose with a practical & relatable example –

Imagine you have to meet a friend who lives far away and you have to tell an estimated time by when you would reach their place. Say, you’re going by car and the road is not broken with no hurdles or challenges in the way it has been constructed.

You will not be delayed and have a fair estimate to give. But if the road is closed or there’s construction happening, you’ll redirect or check for different ways out and you won’t have an estimate, given the uncertainty.

This is exactly how it works with a code. In our example above, the road is the code and if the code is well maintained, constant and predictable you’ll have easy success at reaching the destination i.e. correct output. If there is an issue, to add any new feature to a product or design, you will have to pause the refactor to fix the technical debt.

It becomes a debt as soon as it becomes difficult to change the code in the future. Each day it becomes more and more expensive to fix.  If a developer can easily understand the previous code, extend it, and introduce changes that won’t break any existing functionality it’ll save time, effort & money.

Benefits of Writing Clean Code 

In the words of Martin Fowler – “Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.” 

Here’s why clean code matters and can help acquire success in designing any project:

Maintainability

A thoroughly documented code gives a person the chance to maintain it and use it for a long period. Always remember that there could be someone working on the same code after years, thus your goal should be that they understand your code well without any prior knowledge. Make sure you leave comments and implement the logic in a categorised, simple way.

Scalable

With products being remodelled and upgraded over and over, it needs to scale as well. One way of doing that is to have a strong existing code base and documentation for designers to build upon.

Logical

Once presented with a problem, every coder needs to pause and think about the logic and prepare an algorithm first, without directly rushing into coding. A code written with prior planning makes them good and clean. Such codes always have a justification and understanding behind them which essentially tells us that it’s easy to understand.

Readability

Clean coders work with the authors, they also have chapters & headings in the form of classes, namespaces, and different methods. Their codes are like a book to read.

Easy to test

It’s difficult to do automated testing if the underlying code is messy. Cleaner ones are simpler to test and more to the point. It’s also easy to find mistakes from a clean interface.

Keep in mind that clean code isn’t about PEP-8 or a coding style, it goes over and above all that. It’s something more in terms of the maintainability of the code and the quality of the software.

Developers and Designers 

Let’s take a step ahead and gain insight into the correlation between developers and designers. With web development, designers hold the sole purpose to put together what they intend to see as a mockup design based on creative thought. This particular idea is then coded and applied based on the output expected.

In this process, collaboration is the key to a successful translation of the designer’s idea. To create a clean code, design elements need to be modular, so that the entire code can be more organised. A consistent yet creative design approach combined with a good planning process helps bring out the design that was intended.

According to Grady Booch, author of Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications, “When it comes to design, clean code never obscures a designer’s intent. However, it’s full of crisp abstractions and straightforward lines of control.” He says it should read like well-written prose.

Now that we know the importance of designing and developing the code, let’s look at what looks like an ideal code.

Characteristics of Clean Code

Here are some of the factors that define the code as a maintained one –

1. Runs all the tests
2. Has no duplication
3. All the design ideas in the system are expressed well
4. Minimises the number of entities like classes, methods, and functions

Expressiveness to certain people is about meaningful names and they are likely to change it several times. Improving on duplication, expressiveness, and simple abstractions can take one a long way in creating what is considered a clean code.

When developers see code that is similar to what they expected they feel assured that it is exactly what they wanted.

Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++, believes a successful code always needs to be elegant and efficient. For each programmer, their clean code is something they care for, and for them, it’s no less than anything that brings out one’s passion for their project.

Many authors and programmers define clean code as an art form, some say it’s like writing a book, while others think that it’s like painting a picture.

When it comes to organising your algorithm logically and writing structured code, an in-depth coding internship provided by CodeQuotient can be of great help. This internship helps with a project-based structure where the students are regularly put through various LIVE assignments that eventually helps them improve their portfolio and land their dream IT job. To learn more, get in touch with us.