Code quality

Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live. _{-- Martin Golding}

Production code needs to be of high quality. Given how the world is becoming increasingly dependent on software, poor quality code is something no one can afford to tolerate.

Programs should be written and polished until they acquire publication quality. _{--Niklaus Wirth}

Among various dimensions of code quality, such as run-time efficiency, security, and robustness, one of the most important is readability (aka understandability). This is because in any non-trivial software project, code needs to be read, understood, and modified by other developers later on. Even if you do not intend to pass the code to someone else, code quality is still important because you will become a 'stranger' to your own code someday.

Avoid long methods as they often contain more information than what the reader can process at a time. Consider if shortening is possible when a method goes beyond 30 . The bigger the haystack, the harder it is to find a needle.

If you need more than 3 levels of indentation, you're screwed anyway, and should fix your program. _{--Linux 1.3.53 Coding Style}

Avoid deep nesting -- the deeper the nesting, the harder it is for the reader to keep track of the logic.

In particular, avoid arrowhead style code.

int subsidy() {
    int subsidy;
    if (!age) {
        if (!sub) {
            if (!notFullTime) {
                subsidy = 500;
            } else {
                subsidy = 250;
            }
        } else {
            subsidy = 250;
        }
    } else {
        subsidy = -1;
    }
    return subsidy;
}

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

int calculateSubsidy() {
    int subsidy;
    if (isSenior) {
        subsidy = REJECT_SENIOR;
    } else if (isAlreadySubsidized) {
        subsidy = SUBSIDIZED_SUBSIDY;
    } else if (isPartTime) {
        subsidy = FULLTIME_SUBSIDY * RATIO;
    } else {
        subsidy = FULLTIME_SUBSIDY;
    }
    return subsidy;
}

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

def calculate_subs():
    if not age:
        if not sub:
            if not not_fulltime:
                subsidy = 500
            else:
                subsidy = 250
        else:
            subsidy = 250
    else:
        subsidy = -1
    return subsidy

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

def calculate_subsidy():
    if is_senior:
        return REJECT_SENIOR
    elif is_already_subsidized:
        return SUBSIDIZED_SUBSIDY
    elif is_parttime:
        return FULLTIME_SUBSIDY * RATIO
    else:
        return FULLTIME_SUBSIDY

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

Avoid complicated expressions, especially those having many negations and nested parentheses. If you must evaluate complicated expressions, have it done in steps (i.e. calculate some intermediate values first and use them to calculate the final value).

return ((length < MAX_LENGTH) || (previousSize != length))
        && (typeCode == URGENT);

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

boolean isWithinSizeLimit = length < MAX_LENGTH;
boolean isSameSize = previousSize != length;
boolean isValidCode = isWithinSizeLimit || isSameSize;

boolean isUrgent = typeCode == URGENT;

return isValidCode && isUrgent;

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

return ((length < MAX_LENGTH) or (previous_size != length)) and (type_code == URGENT)

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

is_within_size_limit = length < MAX_LENGTH
is_same_size = previous_size != length
is_valid_code = is_within_size_limit or is_same_size

is_urgent = type_code == URGENT

return is_valid_code and is_urgent

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

The competent programmer is fully aware of the strictly limited size of his own skull; therefore he approaches the programming task in full humility, and among other things he avoids clever tricks like the plague. _{-- Edsger Dijkstra}

Avoid magic numbers in your code. When the code has a number that does not explain the meaning of the number, it is called a "magic number" (as in "the number appears as if by magic"). Using a makes the code easier to understand because the name tells us more about the meaning of the number.

return 3.14236;
...
return 9;

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

static final double PI = 3.14236;
static final int MAX_SIZE = 10;
...
return PI;
...
return MAX_SIZE - 1;

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

return 3.14236
...
return 9

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

PI = 3.14236
MAX_SIZE = 10
...
return PI
...
return MAX_SIZE - 1

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

Similarly, you can have ‘magic’ values of other data types.

return "Error 1432"; // A magic string!

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

return "Error 1432" # A magic string!

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

Avoid any magic literals in general, not just magic numbers.

Make the code as explicit as possible, even if the language syntax allows them to be implicit. Here are some examples:

• [Java] Use explicit type conversion instead of implicit type conversion.
• [Java, Python] Use parentheses/braces to show groupings even when they can be skipped.
• [Java, Python] Use enumerations when a certain variable can take only a small number of finite values. For example, instead of declaring the variable 'state' as an integer and using values 0, 1, 2 to denote the states 'starting', 'enabled', and 'disabled' respectively, declare 'state' as type SystemState and define an enumeration SystemState that has values 'STARTING', 'ENABLED', and 'DISABLED'.

Lay out the code so that it adheres to the logical structure. The code should read like a story. Just like how you use section breaks, chapters and paragraphs to organize a story, use classes, methods, indentation and line spacing in your code to group related segments of the code. For example, you can use blank lines to separate groups of related statements.

Sometimes, the correctness of your code does not depend on the order in which you perform certain intermediary steps. Nevertheless, this order may affect the clarity of the story you are trying to tell. Choose the order that makes the story most readable.

statement A1
statement A2
statement A3
statement B1
statement C1
statement B2
statement C2

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

statement A1
statement A2
statement A3

statement B1
statement B2

statement C1
statement C2

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

One essential way to improve code quality is to follow a consistent style. That is why software engineers usually follow a strict coding standard (aka style guide).

The aim of a coding standard is to make the entire codebase look like it was written by one person. A coding standard is usually specific to a programming language and specifies guidelines such as the locations of opening and closing braces, indentation styles and naming styles (e.g. whether to use Hungarian style, Pascal casing, Camel casing, etc.). It is important that the whole team/company uses the same coding standard and that the standard is generally not inconsistent with typical industry practices. If a company's coding standard is very different from what is typically used in the industry, new recruits will take longer to get used to the company's coding style.

Proper naming improves the readability of code. It also reduces bugs caused by ambiguities regarding the intent of a variable or a method.

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things. _{-- Phil Karlton}

Every system is built from a domain-specific language designed by the programmers to describe that system. Functions are the verbs of that language, and classes are the nouns.
_{-- Robert C. Martin, Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship}

Use nouns for classes/variables and verbs for methods/functions.

Distinguish clearly between single-valued and multi-valued variables.

Person student;
ArrayList<Person> students;

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

name = 'Jim'
names = ['Jim', 'Alice']

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

Use correct spelling in names. Avoid 'texting-style' spelling. Avoid foreign language words, slang, and names that are only meaningful within specific contexts/times e.g. terms from private jokes, a TV show currently popular in your country.

Good code is its own best documentation. As you’re about to add a comment, ask yourself, ‘How can I improve the code so that this comment isn’t needed?’ Improve the code and then document it to make it even clearer. _{-- Steve McConnell, Author of Clean Code}

Some think commenting heavily increases the 'code quality'. That is not so. Avoid writing comments to explain bad code. Improve the code to make it self-explanatory.

Do not repeat in comments information that is already obvious from the code. If the code is self-explanatory, a comment may not be needed.

//increment x
x++;

//trim the input
trimInput();

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

# increment x
x = x + 1

# trim the input
trim_input()

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

Write comments targeting other programmers reading the code. Do not write comments as if they are private notes to yourself. Instead, One type of comment that is almost always useful is the header comment that you write for a class or an operation to explain its purpose.

// a quick trim function used to fix bug I detected overnight
void trimInput() {
    ....
}

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

/** Trims the input of leading and trailing spaces */
void trimInput() {
    ....
}

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

def trim_input():
"""a quick trim function used to fix bug I detected overnight"""
    ...

    

    


    
    
    

      


    
    

def trim_input():
"""Trim the input of leading and trailing spaces"""
    ...