Beyond Legacy Code

Impediments to Changeability

Supportable code is flexible and easy to modify because it’s readable and understandable, not just by the developer who wrote the code but by other professional software developers as well.

We’ve seen previously that one aspect of “good code” is that it’s easy to change. When I ask developers what makes code easy to change, they usually say things like it’s well documented, it uses intention-revealing names, it follows a consistent metaphor, and so on. These and other things can definitely help make code easier to understand and easier to change.

Are there guidelines developers can follow that show them how to make code easier to change? I believe the answer is a resounding Yes! We’ve already discussed several principles ...