Code Simplicity

Chapter 1. Introduction

All of us have been taught that software is “a series of instructions given to the computer,” and this is true. However, there is no field in which a set of instructions and the result of those instructions are so closely linked as they are in the field of software development. In other fields, people write instructions and then hand them off to others, often waiting a long time to see them carried out. But when we write code, there is nobody between us and the computer. The result is exactly what the instructions said to do, without question. The quality of the end result is dependent entirely upon the quality of the machine, the quality of our ideas, and the quality of our code.

Of these three factors, the quality of the code is the largest problem faced by software projects today. As a result, most of this book is focuses on improving code quality. I do touch on ideas and machines as well in a few places, but mostly the focus is on improving the structure and quality of the instructions that we are giving to the machine.

However, it’s important to remember that we are doing so purely because we desire a better result. Nothing in this book forgives a poor result—the entire reason that we focus on improving code is because improving the code is the most important problem we must solve in order to improve the result.

Why Simplicity?

If any appliance in my house malfunctioned as often as my computer does, I would return it. Users (and sometimes even programmers) ...