mgroves

Well, I’ve finished Clean Code, but my blogging each chapter is too far behind at this point. However, I thought I would throw out a quick summary blog, and recommend the book one last time before I shelve Clean Code as a blog topic for now.

Clean Code is a book that every developer should read, agree with it or not. It should probably be the textbook for a course in Computer Science (or Computer Programming, whatever) degrees. It teaches a lot of little rules and heuristics for writing clean, maintainable, good code, but ultimately it teaches a process. Care about your code, care about variable names, class names, formatting, small methods, and single responsibility. Your code won’t always be perfect; it won’t be in the Smithsonian; but it can always be improved, a little bit at a time.

After reading this book, I find myself asking better questions about the code I’m writing. Should this method be here? Should it be named something better? Should it be broken out into smaller methods? Is there any way I can reduce or remove the repetition? While I may not always have the experience and judgment to answer these questions completely and correctly, I think getting in the mindset of always interrogating and improving my code is a good place to be.

I’ve also been privileged to help organize a great group of developers in Columbus area to form a book club for Clean Code this year. The book provided an excellent starting place and guide for discussions, arguments, and stories about coding. I know that I have learned a great deal more about applying the concepts in Clean Code by just talking to smart, experienced developers. So, not only do I recommend the book, I recommend discussing the book.

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