Tidy First?

Chapter 11. Chunk Statements

This one wins the prize for simplest tidying. You’re reading a big chunk of code and you realize, “Oh, this part does this and then that part does that.” Put a blank line between the parts.

I like that this tidying is so, so simple. That’s part of the philosophy of Tidy First?—don’t make software design such a big deal that you are in danger of not doing it. Software design enables change. A little software design can make change a little easier.

Here’s the cool thing—compound interest. Software design also makes more software design easier. This is both a blessing and a curse. You can get caught in the vortex of design and forget to make the change. Don’t do that. Done well, software design enables software design that enables change.

After you’ve chunked statements, you have many paths forward, such as Explaining Variables (Chapter 8), Extract Helper (Chapter 12), or Explaining Comments (Chapter 14).