9 February 2012

Required Reading: Clean Code

Here is an email that I wrote to my team earlier this year. The team members are able to deliver new features on time but do not care for code quality (at least not as much as I do ;-). This is going to change.

Raising the bar. (1)

Clean Code AssetsDear team,
as mentioned in the kick-off, we need to get into the right attitude for the upcoming refactoring effort. Many items on our code clean-up list are ongoing changes, e.g.
  • use proper names for fields and methods
  • clean up magic numbers
  • split large classes
  • add JavaDoc to core classes
  • fix compiler warnings
  • remove duplicated code
  • remove dead code
  • add JUnit tests
All of these changes are in fact rules how to produce code that is easy to read and maintain. All these rules are part of a coding style sometimes called "clean code".

The Pragmatic Programmers once wrote that you should read at least four technical books a year to stay sharp and relevant in our fast paced industry. Remember that the half-life of our technical knowledge in only 18 months. (Heinz Kabutz) So as first technical book to read in 2012 I highly recommend Clean Code by Bob Martin. It's a great book and has raised a new wave of code-consciousness. Read one of its reviews if you do not believe me.

Sooner or later you will have to read it, so why not start now? Go ahead, buy it, read it! Or at least browse it and see what is inside. We cannot afford to have any more cryptic variable names or huge classes.

Regards,
Code Cop

Lowering the bar.

Of course I did not attach the PDF of the book. That would have been illegal but it might lower the bar to get my colleagues into reading it. I know that not many of the team will read it. I would consider my email successful if one of two read the table of contents or browse a chapter.

(1) "Raising the bar" is the subtitle of the Software Craftsmanship Manifesto.