{"id":9514,"date":"2017-12-21T11:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T16:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.multiversemediagroup.com\/?p=9514"},"modified":"2017-12-21T11:45:46","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T16:45:46","slug":"7-reasons-clean-code-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.multiversemediagroup.com\/business-growth\/7-reasons-clean-code-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Web Design Best Practices: 7 Reasons Clean Code Matters!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning how to construct fast, efficient, and clean code is essential when developing your own personal website, a\u00a0website for your business<\/a>, and even complex web applications. Going a step further with software or game development and the practices are the same. Clean code is the difference between a beautiful, and easily scalable website and a website that is slow, riddled with bugs, and just a plain nightmare to use. In this post, I’m going to share with you a quick story on my journey to discovering the importance of clean code and following up with my list of 7 reasons why clean code matters! So go grab a hot tea, relax, and learn in minutes what took me years to figure out!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Learning the Importance of Clean Code<\/span><\/h2>\n

Years ago when I decided to jump into the world of web development, I spent countless hours per day learning the basics of\u00a0HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. First I started with mini projects I would give myself which would force me to learn particular aspects of each language. I loved learning this stuff and spent countless hours per day learning everything I could as\u00a0fast\u00a0<\/em>as I could.<\/p>\n

During these binge learning sessions, I developed quite a few bad habits, the worst being my messy and inconsistent code design. I remember being embarrassed by my code and even avoiding code reviews with my fellow team members because of it. I refused to fix the issue and just keep coding… badly.<\/p>\n

That didn’t last long. Up until now, I had nothing but small projects. Projects small enough that messy code wasn’t really a big deal. Then came my first big project. I accepted the gig with confidence in my messy skillset. Big mistake. Halfway through the project, my code caved into itself. The project demanded a high level of security and reliability and I couldn’t do it. My code couldn’t do it. Worst of all,\u00a0I couldn’t keep up with my own code or remember what my code was even doing.<\/em>\u00a0I decided to hand over my project to a fellow team member who eventually wiped out all of my work and started fresh. Really embarrassing. I finally recognized my weakness and decided to conquer it.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward a few years and a Computer Science degree later, I was able to learn from the best professors and application developers in my area. They helped me recognize my weaknesses and transform them into my strengths. Today, after all of the work I have done, I can confidently say that my code design is the cleanest and most efficient it has ever been. I now love having code reviews with my fellow team members and sharing\u00a0why<\/em> or\u00a0how<\/em> I wrote my code in a particular way.<\/p>\n

So now I bet you want to know what you can do today that is going to help you write fast, elegant, and efficient code, right? Lucky for you, I was able to crunch everything I have learned into 7 sections. Without further adieu the first thing I would suggest is…<\/p>\n

<\/span>1.) Planning is Key for Clean Code!<\/span><\/h2>\n

Code planning is essential for clean code. Surprisingly enough, my experience with working with other developers has shown they are so excited to start coding, they forget this very important step and end up spending lots of time writing and then re-writing their own code since their overall end goal is still unclear. What we want to do here is take a step back for a minute and ask yourself questions like: “What is the primary goal of this project?” or “What did my client specify was important to implement for this web design project?” This all goes back to Waterfall vs Agile methodology<\/a> and depending on your project and your project management approach, the most important thing you can do is have solid planning.<\/p>\n

<\/span>2.) Keep Your Code Simple<\/span><\/h2>\n

In other words, code\u00a0smart\u00a0<\/em>not\u00a0more.\u00a0<\/em>What’s the shortest route between two objects? A straight line! Same with coding, and that bit of advice can be applied to any programming language. Funny enough, there are developers out there who write complicated code on purpose. These types develop overproduced code that is terrible to read, hard to understand and is riddled with bugs. Each piece of your code should be clean, simple, solve a problem, and contribute to a particular function within your page. If you struggle with this one, suggest having a code review with your team, or a fellow developer. Go over your problem and discuss the most efficient way to solve it. Besides, nothing is more fun than coding together! You’re guaranteed to learn something!<\/p>\n

<\/span>3.) Commenting Your Code Appropriately<\/span><\/h2>\n

All solid developers have made close, intimate friends with comments. Using comments regularly makes for a beautiful arrangement that guarantees clarity and encourages clean code. For instance, each block of code is solving a particular problem, so to keep it clear for other developers to read. Comments can highlight your functions and explain what every line is doing. A few examples of how comments are used are as follows:<\/p>\n