Code Calligraphy VS Code Chicken Scratch: A Developer‘s Guide to Crafting Clean, Elegant Code
As a software developer, the code you write is your craft. It‘s your art, your science, your form of expression. And just like with any creative endeavor, the difference between novice work and masterful work is immediately apparent to a trained eye.
I like to think of well-written code as "code calligraphy" – it‘s beautiful, expressive, and easy to read. Poorly written code, on the other hand, is like chicken scratch – it‘s messy, confusing, and frustrating to decipher.
Consider this real-world example I encountered in a JavaScript codebase:
function a(x) {
var z = [];
for (i = 0; i < x.length; ++i) {
if (x[i] % 2 == 0)
z.push(x[i]*x[i]);
else if (x[i] % 3 == 0)
z.push(x[i]*x[i]*x[i]);
}
var t=0;
for (j=0; j<z.length; j++)
t+=z[j];
return t;
} Even for a simple function, this code is hard to follow. The variable names are meaningless single letters, there‘s inconsistent formatting, and the logic is hard to decipher at a glance. It‘s classic "chicken scratch."
Now observe how we could rewrite this in the style of "code calligraphy":
function sumOfSquaresAndCubes(numbers) {
const squares = [];
const cubes = [];
for (let i = 0; i < numbers.length; i++) {
const num = numbers[i];
if (num % 2 === 0) {
squares.push(num * num);
} else if (num % 3 === 0) {
cubes.push(num * num * num);
}
}
const sumSquares = squares.reduce((sum, square) => sum + square, 0);
const sumCubes = cubes.reduce((sum, cube) => sum + cube, 0);
return sumSquares + sumCubes;
}With clear variable names, consistent formatting, and some refactoring to make the logic more evident, this version of the code is much easier to understand and maintain. That‘s the power of code calligraphy.
But writing clean code isn‘t just about aesthetics – it has major impacts on the health of the codebase and the productivity of the team. Let‘s look at some data:
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A study by Undo found that developers spend over 13 hours per week debugging software failures, at a cumulative annual cost of $61 billion. A major factor in hard-to-fix bugs? Messy, complex, hard-to-understand code.
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The Clean Code book by Robert C. Martin notes that unreadable code not only slows down feature development, but over time features actually become more expensive to add as the codebase becomes "a mess of tangled, unintelligible spaghetti code."
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In Code Complete, Steve McConnell estimates that on average, a single line of code will be read 10 times for every one time it is written. Making that code readable has a compounding payoff.
As the renowned computer scientist Harold Abelson puts it: "Programs must be written for people to read, and only incidentally for machines to execute."
So what are the principles of code calligraphy that lead to clean, readable, maintainable code? Here are some of the most important:
1. Meaningful Names
Use descriptive names for variables, functions, classes, etc. Your code should be self-documenting. Avoid meaningless names like x, foo, data, etc.
# Instead of this:
def p(x, y):
return x+y
# Do this:
def calculate_perimeter(length, width):
return 2 * (length + width)2. Small, Focused Functions and Classes
Keep your functions and classes small and focused on a single responsibility. If a function is doing multiple things, break it up. Ideally, most functions should be less than 20 lines of code.
// Instead of a single huge function:
public void processInvoices() {
// Fetch invoices from database
// Validate each invoice
// Email valid invoices
// Update each invoice status in database
}
// Break it up:
public void processInvoices() {
List<Invoice> invoices = fetchInvoicesFromDatabase();
List<Invoice> validInvoices = validateInvoices(invoices);
emailInvoices(validInvoices);
updateInvoiceStatuses(validInvoices);
}3. Avoid Deep Nesting
Deeply nested code is hard to read and reason about. Prefer early returns and flat structure. Avoid multiple levels of indentation.
// Instead of:
function calculateDiscount(order) {
let discount = 0;
if (order.customer.isVip) {
if (order.total > 1000) {
discount = 20;
} else {
discount = 10;
}
}
return discount;
}
// Do:
function calculateDiscount(order) {
if (!order.customer.isVip) {
return 0;
}
return order.total > 1000 ? 20 : 10;
}4. Consistent Style and Formatting
Use consistent indentation, whitespace, and formatting to make your code easily scannable. Ideally, follow an established style guide like the Google Style Guides.
# Instead of:
function sum($a,$b){
return $a+$b; }
# Do:
function sum($a, $b)
{
return $a + $b;
}5. DRY (Don‘t Repeat Yourself)
Avoid code duplication by extracting reusable functions and classes. If you find yourself copying and pasting code, stop and refactor.
# Instead of:
def calculate_circle_area(r):
return 3.14 * r * r
def calculate_cylinder_volume(r, h):
return 3.14 * r * r * h
# Do:
def calculate_circle_area(r):
return 3.14 * r * r
def calculate_cylinder_volume(r, h):
return calculate_circle_area(r) * h6. Avoid Magic Numbers and Strings
Don‘t sprinkle magic numbers and string literals throughout your code. Use named constants instead.
// Instead of:
if (employee.yearsEmployed > 5) {
giveBonus(employee, 100);
}
// Do:
const SENIOR_EMPLOYEE_THRESHOLD = 5;
const SENIOR_BONUS = 100;
if (employee.yearsEmployed > SENIOR_EMPLOYEE_THRESHOLD) {
giveBonus(employee, SENIOR_BONUS);
}7. Write Comments to Explain Why, Not What
Good code should be self-explanatory. Write comments to explain the why behind non-obvious decisions or hacks, not to explain what the code does. And always keep comments up-to-date.
// Instead of:
// This function sums two numbers
function sum(a, b) {
return a + b;
}
// Do:
function sum(a, b) {
// We use + instead of Math.sum for performance reasons
// See benchmark: [link]
return a + b;
}8. Favor Readability Over Cleverness
It‘s tempting to write clever one-liners, but clever code is rarely maintainable code. Favor simple, readable code over dense, clever code.
# Instead of:
def fib(n):
return n if n < 2 else fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
# Do:
def fib(n):
if n == 0: return 0
if n == 1: return 1
return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)Mastering these principles is how you practice the art of clean coding. But just like mastering any craft, it takes dedication and discipline. You have to adopt a mindset of constantly honing your skills and taking pride in your work.
In my experience across codebases ranging from legacy monoliths to cutting-edge microservices, I‘ve found that code review is one of the most powerful tools for spreading good coding practices across a team. When you know your code will be scrutinized by your peers, it drives you to step up your game. And by reviewing others‘ code, you learn new techniques and solidify your own good habits.
Some of the most common feedback I give in code reviews:
- "Let‘s extract this repeated logic into a shared helper function."
- "Can we give this variable/function a more descriptive name? It‘s not clear what it does from the name."
- "This function is doing too many things – let‘s break it up into smaller, focused functions."
- "We should add a comment here explaining why this non-obvious solution was necessary."
- "Let‘s remove these commented-out lines of code to reduce noise."
Over time, this feedback loops leads the whole team to internalize the principles of clean code.
Another powerful tool in the quest for code quality is static code analysis. Tools like ESLint, Pylint, RuboCop, etc. can automatically scan your code and flag potential issues like inconsistent style, unused variables, potential bugs, and deviations from best practices.
For example, here‘s a sample ESLint configuration that enforces some clean coding rules in JavaScript:
{
"rules": {
"camelcase": ["error", {"properties": "always"}],
"eqeqeq": "error",
"indent": ["error", 2],
"quotes": ["error", "single"],
"semi": ["error", "always"],
"no-var": "error",
"prefer-const": "error",
}
}Configuring these tools and setting up automated linting in your build pipeline makes it easy to catch code smells early and consistently enforce standards, even as the team grows and changes.
But tools and processes can only do so much. At the end of the day, crafting clean code comes down to the culture and values of the team.
In high-performing engineering teams, code quality is a core value that‘s championed from the top down. Leaders set the expectation that clean code is non-negotiable, and they back it up by investing in training, tooling, and rewarding quality-focused work.
Teams that view code as just a means to an end, on the other hand, tend to accrue crippling technical debt over time as expediency trumps maintainability. The codebase becomes a patchwork of band-aids and quick fixes, making even simple changes a minefield. Morale suffers as developers dread working on the fragile, frustrating mess.
So as a developer, you have to ask yourself – do you want to be an artist, or a chicken scratcher? Do you want to take pride in your craft, or just slap some characters together until it works (more or less)? Do you want to build robust systems that stand the test of time, or disposable shacks that collapse under their own weight?
In my career, I‘ve worked on both kinds of codebases. And I can tell you from experience – life is too short for chicken scratch code. Investing in your code quality skills pays massive dividends in your productivity, your enjoyment of your work, and your career prospects.
So study the masters. Hone your skills. Treat your code like the craft that it is. Your future self (and anyone else who has to read your code) will thank you.
"To write clean code, you must first write dirty code and then clean it."
- Robert C. Martin, Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship