Readable code also contributes to easier documentation. It's easier to maintain a
manual when you can just translate the code into the local language. My current team
started small and I learned pretty soon that time invested in a habit of readable code
meant less time spent providing the person assigned documentation the juicy details.
- Matt G.
------- Original Message -------
On Sunday, December 11th, 2022 at 12:03 PM, Larry McVoy <lm(a)mcvoy.com> wrote:
On Mon, Dec 12, 2022 at 06:55:31AM +1100, Dave
Horsfall wrote:
On Sun, 11 Dec 2022, Michael Kj??rling wrote:
By definition, if you write code as cleverly as
you can, then you aren't
clever enough to debug it...
Indeed...
I've always used the maxim "Write code as though the next person to
maintain it is an axe-wielding psychopath who knows where you live".
My main job, for the 20 years until I retired, was to keep telling
people that code that you wrote 6 months ago might as well have been
written by someone else. Optimize for reading the code, not writing
the code. It's read many.
99.9% of the time, I detest clever code. .1% of the time, I need it.
The problem is that smart engineers adore writing clever code. They
usually, eventually, wise up.