Clean Code: What It Is About and Why Is It Important?

Image by storyset on Freepik

Have you ever been in a new project, received an already started repository with another person's code, which is not very readable at first sight, there is no documentation at hand to help you and you wish that person would have followed better practices?

Today I will discuss about this topic and how to prevent repetitive, unreadable and untidy pieces of code.

Here we go!

Clean code is a term used to describe code that is easy to read, understand, and maintain over time. 

It is code that has been written in a way that makes it easy to modify over time, without introducing bugs or unexpected behaviors. Clean code is important because it has a direct impact on the quality, efficiency, and maintainability of software systems.

There are many principles and practices that contribute to clean code. 

Some of these include:

• Writing code that is easy to read and understand: This involves using descriptive and meaningful names for variables, functions, and classes, as well as using consistent formatting and indentation.
• Minimizing complexity: This involves writing code that is simple and easy to follow, avoiding unnecessary nesting and keeping functions short and focused.
• Following best practices: This includes using design patterns, writing automated tests, and avoiding code duplication.
• Keeping code DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself): This involves avoiding repetition in code, by extracting reusable code into functions or classes.
• Strive for simplicity: This means to write code that is straightforward and easy to understand, rather than trying to optimize for performance or other metrics at the expense of readability.

By following these principles and practices, you can create code that is clean, maintainable, and easy to work with. 

This, in turn, can help to reduce bugs and improve the quality of software systems, while also making it easier and more efficient for other developers to work with the code over time.

Want to share your experience on this? I read you below!