Omit needless code
In the Elements of Style, William Strunk describes one of his pricinples of composition Omit needless words by saying
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.
These words resonate with me; I hold a similar view about how software should be written and as I read this book a number of its rules & principles seem to apply equally to writing good software. This makes sense since the majority^ of code we write is in English. It seems to me that every developer who aspires to be their best would do well to aquire this guide; so, I’ve added this book to my list of books every software developer should own.
^I recently discovered that most of SAP’s code is written in German.
Looks like a very, very, very good read
Ambrosimus
September 8, 2006 at 10:02 am
It is a good read, it’s also small enough to carry in a coat pocket. I’m enjoying it so far and highly reccomend it.
If you prefer something written with more humour I suggest Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves
How’s life treating you?
Abhijit
September 9, 2006 at 12:29 pm
the quote you’ve made is very much the mantra of engineering – function over form. in the arts and aesthetic principles it’s the opposite – form over function. (which is why you can buy uncomfortable but attractive furniture, something that never made sense to me).
beauty and elegant design is usually found in flaws or superfluous touches to the original design. while i love the idea of information packing and density, i think that truly inspired design comes from a balance of both schools of thought.
imagine trying to hold a conversation with a normal person using the principles described above; most of the information would be missed in a sluggish brain – they need the pauses and and extra words to process the meaning.
Grant
September 26, 2006 at 10:48 pm
Well put. I couldn’t agree more about the need for a balance. You also reminded me of another quote about most significant discoveries being accompanied by the word “oops.”
I’ve found that code that communicates intent well adheres to this principle but the converse isn’t necessarily true; adhering to this principle alone isn’t sufficient to communicate well. This principle merely assists in making it easier for your reader to comprehend you by removing some kruft.
Indeed, following this principle while losing sight of its underlying reasoning could lead to a situation similar to the one you describe.
Perhaps, in our craft, we earn our living when we recongnize what is truly needless code.
Abhijit
September 28, 2006 at 8:08 pm