Washing your code
Washing your code
Write once, read seven times
About the Book
The purpose of this book is to show common code smells or patterns that often (but not always!) lead to poor code readability, and how you can refactor the code to make it more readable and maintainable. The book contains a lot of code examples, mostly based on real code with only minor adaptations.
Who is this book for
The book probably will be most useful for intermediate developers. If you’re a beginner, you probably have enough of other things to think about. If you have decades of experience, you probably can write a similar book yourself. This book is going to be opinionated, but you don’t have to agree with everything I’m saying, and that’s not the goal of the book. The goal is to show you one possible path, mine, and inspire to find your own. These techniques help me to write and review code every day, and I’ll be happy if you find some of them useful.
What you will learn
I’ll show code smells and patterns I often see during code reviews (and I review a lot of code every day!) and will walk you through the refactoring process to make code more readable and maintainable. I’ll also show when you shouldn’t follow my recommendations and keep using smelly code.
I’ll show you how to:
- Replace loops with array methods.
- Replace conditions with tables or remove them entirely.
- Replace imperative code with declarative and separate “what” and “how.”
- And more.
License
About the Author
Table of Contents
-
Washing your code: Write once, read seven times
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Avoid loops
- Avoid conditions
- Avoid reassigning variables
- Avoid mutation
- Avoid comments
- Simplify, simplify, simplify
- Naming is hard
- Constants
- Don’t surprise me
- Separate “what” and “how”
- Don’t waste energy (= save energy for important things)
- Cargo cult programming
- Don’t be clever
- Divide and conquer, or merge and relax
- Don’t make me think
- Too many conventions
- Make impossible states impossible
- (Boy) scout rule
- Greppable code
- Size isn’t important
- Don’t try to predict the future
- Refactoring is inevitable
- Not invented here syndrome
- Code style
- Code is evil
- Tooling
- Resources
- Conclusion
Other books by this author
Authors have earned$10,052,337writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
C++ Best Practices
Jason TurnerLevel up your C++, get the tools working for you, eliminate common problems, and move on to more exciting things!
- #2
Digital-First Events
Joep Piscaer and Jana BorutaThe only resource you will ever need to launch your digital events program.
- #3
Algebra-Driven Design
Sandy MaguireA how-to field guide on building leak-free abstractions and algebraically designing real-world applications.
- #4
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #5
R Programming for Data Science
Roger D. PengThis book brings the fundamentals of R programming to you, using the same material developed as part of the industry-leading Johns Hopkins Data Science Specialization. The skills taught in this book will lay the foundation for you to begin your journey learning data science. Printed copies of this book are available through Lulu.
- #6
Continuous Delivery Pipelines
Dave FarleyThis practical handbook provides a step-by-step guide for you to get the best continuous delivery pipeline for your software.
- #7
Cloud Strategy
Gregor Hohpe“Strategy is the difference between making a wish and making it come true.” A successful migration to the cloud can transform your organization, but it shouldn’t be driven by wishes. This book tells you how to develop a sound strategy guided by frameworks and decision models without being overly abstract nor getting lost in product details.
- #8
node-opcua by example
Etienne RossignonGet the best out of node-opcua through a set of documented examples by the author himself that will allow you to create stunning OPCUA Servers or Clients.
- #9
Technical leadership and the balance with agility
Simon BrownA developer-friendly, practical and pragmatic guide to lightweight software architecture, technical leadership and the balance with agility.
- #10
Everyday Rails - RSpecによるRailsテスト入門
Junichi Ito (伊藤淳一), AKIMOTO Toshiharu, 魚振江, and Aaron SumnerRSpecを使ってRailsアプリケーションに信頼性の高いテストを書く実践的なアドバイスを提供します。詳細で丁寧な説明は本書のオリジナルコンテンツです。また、説明には実際に動かせるサンプルアプリケーションも使用します。本書は2017年版にアップデートされ、RSpec 3.6やRails 5.1といった新しい環境に対応しています！さあ、自信をもってテストできるようになりましょう！
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
CCIE Service Provider Ultimate Study Bundle
2 Books
Piotr Jablonski, Lukasz Bromirski, and Nick Russo have joined forces to deliver the only CCIE Service Provider training resource you'll ever need. This bundle contains a detailed and challenging collection of workbook labs, plus an extensively detailed technical reference guide. All of us have earned the CCIE Service Provider certification... - #3
Modern C++ by Nicolai Josuttis
2 Books
- #4
Django for Beginners/APIs/Professionals
3 Books
- #5
Modern Management Made Easy
3 Books
Read all three Modern Management Made Easy books. Learn to manage yourself, lead and serve others, and lead the organization. - #6
Cisco CCNA 200-301 Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du guide préparation à l'examen de certification Cisco CCNA 200-301. - #7
Mastering Containers
2 Books
Docker and Kubernetes are taking the world by storm! These books will get you up-to-speed fast! Docker Deep Dive is over 400 pages long, and covers all objectives on the Docker Certified Associate exam.The Kubernetes Book includes everything you need to get up and running with Kubernetes! - #8
The Python Craftsman
3 Books
The Python Craftsman series comprises The Python Apprentice, The Python Journeyman, and The Python Master. The first book is primarily suitable for for programmers with some experience of programming in another language. If you don't have any experience with programming this book may be a bit daunting. You'll be learning not just a programming... - #9
CCDE Practical Studies (All labs)
3 Books
CCDE lab - #10
Linux Administration Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du Guide Linux Administration :Linux Administration, Volume 1, Administration fondamentale : Guide pratique de préparation aux examens de certification LPIC 1, Linux Essentials, RHCSA et LFCS. Administration fondamentale. Introduction à Linux. Le Shell. Traitement du texte. Arborescence de fichiers. Sécurité...
