When I first started coding in AP Computer Science, I found it fun. It was like solving a puzzle, a difficult one at first, but it slowly made sense. One thing I struggled with was clean code. I remember vaguely writing code that was disgustingly dirty, as in unorganized, unreadable to others, and all around messed up. I’m surprised I was able to get something to work in those conditions. I soon realized that clean code would be a game changer, as I would be able to read it clearly, and follow along easily.
Clean code consists of some points, having good and descriptive method and variable names, appropriate spacing between different lines of code, and good sectioning are some examples. Ultimately, these can go further based on context. Some variables may not need overly descriptive names if there’s enough context to imply what it is used for.
In this blog post, Karolina Tóth interviews Robert C. Martin, or Uncle Bob, on his way of building quality code. The post is fairly lengthy but it has very good tips. Uncle Bob talks about what clean code is, its benefits, how not using clean code can negatively affect you, and many more. One tip he gives is keeping your functions as small as possible, because once they start to get large, the method starts to become confusing. By not writing clean code, you slow everything down. On a team, it’s difficult to work together if someone’s code looks like a 5 year old wrote it. By writing clean code, the team can work effectively and efficiently, ensuring quality code.
I think this is a good post, Uncle Bob has good information, not only on clean code, but also boosting team morale and how to ease into using clean code. His knowledge in teamwork comes from his own experience and mistakes, which I like. Someone has to make mistakes for others to learn, and fortunately, Uncle Bob has done just that.
Clean code is important, whether you work in a team, or alone. It’s good practice to do so. When I first started, it was sloppy code. But now, I can’t stand seeing unorganized code. Even after we had learned clean code in class, I realized that mine wasn’t exactly perfect either. I liked my variable names to be descriptive, but short, and I made the short part priority because I’m lazy. But after reading this post, I understood that it’s not always good to keep them like that, having overly descriptive names can be beneficial, but when they have to be. I like things to be clean, and orderly, and neat, and whatnot, so I’ll be sure to refer back to this post, and the rest of Uncle Bob’s resources later down the line.
Cao's Thoughts 