Clean Code

About Clean Code

As a developer, you should be able to write code which works - of course! A lot of developers

write bad code nonetheless

- even though the code works. Because

"working code"

is not the same as

"clean code"

!

This course teaches you how to write clean code - code that is easy to read and understand by humans, not just computers!

In this course, you'll learn what exactly clean code is and, more importantly, how you can write clean code. Because if your code is written in a clean way, it's easier to read and understand and therefore easier to maintain. Because it's NOT just the computer who needs to understand your code - your colleagues and your future self needs to be able to understand it as well! In this course, we'll dive into all the main "

pain points

" related to clean code (or bad code - depending on how you look at it) and you will not just learn what makes up bad code but of course also how to turn it into clean code.

Specifically, you will learn about:

Naming "things" (variables, properties, classes, functions, ...) properly and in a clean way

Common pitfalls and mistakes you should avoid when naming things

Comments and that most of them are bad

Good comments you might consider adding to your code

Code formatting - both horizontal and vertical formatting

Functions and how to limit the number of function parameters

How to write clean functions by focusing on "one thing"

How levels of abstraction help you split functions and keep them small

How to write DRY functions and avoid unexpected side effects

Avoiding deeply nested control structures with guards and by extracting functionality into functions

Errors and error handling as a replacement for if-statements

Objects & data containers/ data structures and why that differentiation could matter

Cohesion and how to write good (small!) classes

The Law of Demeter and why it matters for clean code

What the SOLID principles are and why they matter when it comes to writing clean code

Much more! This course is a

compilation

of common patterns, best practices, principles and rules related to writing clean code. In this course, you'll learn about a

broad variety of concepts, rules, ideas, thoughts and principles

and by the end of course, you'll have a good idea of what to keep in mind when it comes to writing clean code. This is

not a design patterns or general patterns course

though - we will entirely

focus

on patterns, rules and concepts that help with

writing clean code

specifically. All these concepts and rules are backed up by

examples, code snippets and demos

. And to ensure that you get the most out of this course, and you don't just learn a bunch of theory which you forget soon after, there also are

plenty of challenges

for you to apply what you learned! This course uses

Python, JavaScript and TypeScript

for code examples but you

don't need to know these languages

to follow along and get a lot out of the course. In addition, the course does

not focus on a specific programming style or paradigm

(like functional programming, object-oriented programming etc) but instead covers

general concepts and techniques

which

will always apply

.

What are the course prerequisites?

Basic programming knowledge (no matter which language) is required!

You don't need to know any specific programming language or programming paradigm to follow along

NO prior experience with writing clean code is required