Code Simplicity

Code Simplicity

by Max Kanat-Alexander
Released March 2012
Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ISBN: 9781449334697

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Book description

Good software design is simple and easy to understand. Unfortunately, the average computer program today is so complex that no one could possibly comprehend how all the code works. This concise guide helps you understand the fundamentals of good design through scientific laws—principles you can apply to any programming language or project from here to eternity.

Whether you’re a junior programmer, senior software engineer, or non-technical manager, you’ll learn how to create a sound plan for your software project, and make better decisions about the pattern and structure of your system.

  • Discover why good software design has become the missing science
  • Understand the ultimate purpose of software and the goals of good design
  • Determine the value of your design now and in the future
  • Examine real-world examples that demonstrate how a system changes over time
  • Create designs that allow for the most change in the environment with the least change in the software
  • Make easier changes in the future by keeping your code simpler now
  • Gain better knowledge of your software’s behavior with more accurate tests

Table of contents

  1. Code Simplicity
  2. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
  3. Preface
    1. Definitions, Facts, Rules, and Laws
    2. Conventions Used in This Book
    3. Attribution and Permissions
    4. Safari® Books Online
    5. How to Contact The Author
    6. How to Contact O’Reilly
    7. Acknowledgments
    8. Content Updates
      1. June 13, 2012
  4. 1. Introduction
    1. Why Simplicity?
    2. Software Design
  5. 2. The Purpose of Software
    1. Real-World Application
  6. 3. The Future
    1. The Equation of Software Design
      1. Value
        1. Probability of value and potential value
        2. Balance of harm
        3. The value of having users
      2. Effort
      3. Maintenance
      4. The Full Equation
      5. Reducing the Equation
      6. What You Do and Do Not Want
    2. The Quality of Design
    3. Unforeseeable Consequences
  7. 4. Change
    1. Change in a Real-World Program
    2. The Three Flaws
      1. Writing Code That Isn’t Needed
      2. Not Making the Code Easy to Change
      3. Being Too Generic
    3. Incremental Development and Design
  8. 5. Defects and Design
    1. If It Ain’t Broken...
    2. Don’t Repeat Yourself
  9. 6. Simplicity
    1. Simplicity and the Equation of Software Design
    2. Simplicity Is Relative
    3. How Simple Do You Have to Be?
    4. Be Consistent
    5. Readability
      1. Naming Things
      2. Comments
    6. Simplicity Requires Design
  10. 7. Complexity
    1. Complexity and Purpose
    2. Bad Technologies
      1. Survival Potential
      2. Interoperability
      3. Attention to Quality
      4. Other Reasons
    3. Complexity and the Wrong Solution
      1. What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?
    4. Complex Problems
    5. Handling Complexity
      1. Making One Piece Simpler
      2. Unfixable Complexity
    6. Rewriting
  11. 8. Testing
  12. A. The Laws of Software Design
  13. B. Facts, Laws, Rules, and Definitions
  14. About the Author
  15. SPECIAL OFFER: Upgrade this ebook with O’Reilly
  16. Copyright

Product information

  • Title: Code Simplicity
  • Author(s): Max Kanat-Alexander
  • Release date: March 2012
  • Publisher(s): O'Reilly Media, Inc.
  • ISBN: 9781449334697