Creating efficient git workflows: writing clean code for faster reviews

Writing clean code is an essential aspect of software development that brings numerous benefits to developers, teams, and organisations. Clean code refers to code that is easy to read, understand, and maintain.

It follows established coding standards and practices, making it more reliable, efficient, and adaptable. Let's explore the importance of writing clean code in the context of readability, maintainability, collaboration, and code comprehension.

Readability and Maintainability

Clean code is highly readable, which means that anyone, including the original author or other team members, can easily understand its functionality without extensive effort. This clarity significantly reduces the time spent deciphering complex code, making it easier for developers to identify bugs, make enhancements, or add new features.

• Enhanced Debugging: When code is clean and readable, debugging becomes less daunting. Developers can quickly identify the source of errors and fix them efficiently, reducing downtime and improving software reliability.

• Reduced Technical Debt: Technical debt refers to the accumulated cost of fixing poorly written code. Clean code minimises technical debt by preventing the accumulation of unnecessary complexities and ambiguous logic, which can lead to more bugs and maintenance challenges.

• Faster Onboarding of New Developers: Clean code expedites the onboarding process for new team members. New developers can quickly grasp the codebase, understand its structure, and start contributing effectively to the project.

Benefits of Clean Code in Collaboration and Code Comprehension

• Effective Team Collaboration: In a team setting, clean code fosters effective collaboration. Team members can work on different parts of the codebase with ease, as the consistent and clear style of clean code ensures everyone is on the same page.

• Easy Code Reviews: Clean code simplifies the code review process. Reviewers can focus on logic and functionality rather than deciphering poorly written code, leading to more productive and constructive feedback.

• Better Knowledge Transfer: Clean code facilitates knowledge transfer between team members. When developers can easily understand each other's code, they can share knowledge more effectively, resulting in a more robust and maintainable software development process.

Examples of Code Snippets Demonstrating Clean Coding Practices

Let's look at some code snippets to illustrate clean coding practices:

Descriptive Variable and Function Names

# Bad Example
x = 5
y = 10
z = x + y

# Good Example
num1 = 5
num2 = 10
result = num1 + num2

Proper Indentation, documentation and Formatting

# Not so good Example
def calculateSum(a, b):
    sum = a + b
    return sum

# Good Example
def calculateSum(num1: int, num2: int) -> int:
    """
    A function to add two numbers
    """
    sum = num1 + num2
    return sum

Avoiding Magic Numbers

# Bad Example
if status == 2:
    # Do something

# Good Example
STATUS_COMPLETED = 2
if status == STATUS_COMPLETED:
    # Do something

d. Breaking Down Complex Logic:

# Bad Example
def complex_sum(numbers):
    total = 0
    for num in numbers:
        if num % 2 == 0:
            if num > 10:
                total += num
    return total


# Good Example
from typing import List
def simple_sum(numbers: List[int]) -> int:
    total: int = 0
    for num in numbers:
        if num % 2 == 0 and num > 10:
            total += num
    return total