Make It Read Like English

TL;DR

There is a lot of advice around software engineering best practices, but I think it can be summed up into "Make It Read Like English".

So Many "Best Practices" to Remember

I'd bet you've heard of most of these "best practices" throughout your career:

1. Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY)
2. Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)
3. Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)
4. Pure Functions/Immutability/Functional Programming

There is nothing wrong with any of these principles. They all have their place in right contexts. It's just a lot to remember.

"Make It Read Like English"

My favorite "best practice" is the simple statement "Make It Read Like English". I'm not sure where I first heard this, but it's been a guiding principle of how I've been writing code for many years.

The concept is simple. As I read through the code, I want it to read like simple English. By striving for this simple idea, the code you right will automatically follow many of the principles outlined above.

Wrap It Up

Make Your Code Read Like English. That's it.

Sources

• Personal experience