http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/customapps/what-constitutes-good-program-code/ Buy, Build or Ignore? Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:07:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/customapps/what-constitutes-good-program-code/#comment-26 LadyRatri Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:33:19 +0000 http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/customapps/what-constitutes-good-program-code/#comment-26 Your statement about programmers who obsess over "complexifying" code from 20 lines down to 5 reminds me of a comment I have heard regarding "good" code: "Be smart -- not clever." It's a concise way to differentiate between the modularizations and reuse you talk about, and the over-optimization. Smart is clear and useful. Clever is very hard to follow -- not only reading it six months later, but for someone other than the original developer trying to understand what's going on. Your statement about programmers who obsess over “complexifying” code from 20 lines down to 5 reminds me of a comment I have heard regarding “good” code: “Be smart — not clever.” It’s a concise way to differentiate between the modularizations and reuse you talk about, and the over-optimization. Smart is clear and useful. Clever is very hard to follow — not only reading it six months later, but for someone other than the original developer trying to understand what’s going on.

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