I'll be the first to admit some of the code I've written is ridiculously difficult to read. I didn't judge the quality of my code by how readable it wI'll be the first to admit some of the code I've written is ridiculously difficult to read. I didn't judge the quality of my code by how readable it was. "The Art of Readable Code" isn't the first book I've read that teaches the importance of writing code so that it can be read and understood. It is a good first book to read on the topic. It is well organized, taking the reader from localized concerns, such as picking good names, through structuring logic in a method, to partitioning algorithms. A case study in the last chapter brings the material together in one tangible example. I recommend this book, especially for 1. Anyone who is new to programming. 2. Any team, newly formed or established, that doesn't have a culture that values readable code. 3. Anyone that needs a reminder about readability as a foundation of quality code....more
Many books, totaling thousands of pages, teach the mechanics of creating "good" code. This is the first book I've read that speaks of the underlying pMany books, totaling thousands of pages, teach the mechanics of creating "good" code. This is the first book I've read that speaks of the underlying principles behind all the others. Simplicity. That is it. A one word answer to the age old question of what makes great software. Max Kanat-Alexander distills years of experience into six laws of software. Like Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics () or WWJD () they form a foundation for making the myriad design decisions software developers face every day.
At only 81 pages, lack of time is no excuse for not reading this book....more
Part of my mental picture of an art student is seeing them spending hours in The Louvre, slowly moving from gallery to gallery, studying the works of Part of my mental picture of an art student is seeing them spending hours in The Louvre, slowly moving from gallery to gallery, studying the works of the great masters. I may have it all wrong. The last time I took an art class was in seventh grade, but it feels right. It seems obvious that part of learning how to create great works of art is internalizing what the world considers great art.
The editors' goal with this book is to create a museum through which the aspiring software craftsman may wander. In this collection of 33 essays, you may find an inspiration for what make great code. Spending every weekend in The Museum of Modern Art will not make you a master artist, neither will reading this book give you mastery of the art of writing beautiful code. What it will do for you is make you think about what makes truly great software.
As my reading ambled through the chapters, I loitered is some and bypassed others. I skipped a few of the writings after only reading a page or two. They didn't speak to me. Others, such as "Theory of Beautiful Code in the Large" and "The Long-Term Benefits of Beautiful Design", are covered with highlighter, marking the thoughts I want to share with others.
In my opinion, to get the most value from this book, two things must be true. You have to have a few years of experience writing software for others. You have to have worked on ugly code, whether it is your own or someone else's, to understand importance of the authors' words. You need to be in a situation where you can share and discuss what you encountered between the pages. True understanding and personal growth will come from blending the nuggets of wisdom with the experience of you and your contemporaries to find your personal style....more
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