What are the best ways to ensure code readability and maintainability for non-technical stakeholders?

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Code readability and maintainability are essential aspects of system development, especially when non-technical stakeholders are involved in the project. Non-technical stakeholders can be clients, managers, users, testers, or anyone who needs to understand, use, or evaluate the system without having a deep knowledge of coding. In this article, you will learn some of the best ways to ensure that your code is readable and maintainable for non-technical stakeholders, and why it matters for the success of your system.

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Matteo Vaccari

Technical Principal @ Thoughtworks Italia
Matteo Regazzi

Technical Agility Coach and Agile Coach - All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer

1 Use consistent and meaningful naming conventions

One of the easiest and most effective ways to improve code readability and maintainability is to use consistent and meaningful naming conventions for your variables, functions, classes, files, and other elements of your code. Naming conventions help you and others to identify the purpose, scope, and type of each element, and to avoid confusion and errors. For example, you can use camelCase for variables and functions, PascalCase for classes, and snake_case for files. You can also use prefixes or suffixes to indicate the data type, such as strName for a string variable or isDone for a boolean variable. Additionally, you should avoid using vague or generic names, such as x, y, data, or result, and instead use descriptive and specific names, such as customerName, orderStatus, or calculateTotal.

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Matteo Regazzi

Technical Agility Coach and Agile Coach - All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer
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Consistency is a key: a concept that has a name in a module must have the same name in another (and don't mix different idioms, or we will have stuff named in English somewhere and in French or Italian somewhere else). Moreover, that concept should be named using the same word that we use in the business / tech conversation, and should be selected from those used on the business side (that is, we create an ubiquitous language for the project or even a DSL). For technical terms, shared metaphors will help. We can focus on the format even if often it is imposed by coding convention that are specific for the language used. A useful technique for naming variables, methods, functions etc. is the Naming as a process sponsored by Arlo Belshee.

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2 Write clear and concise comments

Another way to enhance code readability and maintainability is to write clear and concise comments that explain the logic, functionality, and intention of your code. Comments can help non-technical stakeholders to understand the rationale, assumptions, and limitations of your code, and to provide feedback or suggestions. However, comments should not be redundant, excessive, or outdated. You should only comment on what is not obvious from the code itself, such as the purpose, parameters, and return value of a function, or the reason for using a certain algorithm or data structure. You should also avoid commenting on every line of code, and instead use comments to group or separate blocks of code that perform a specific task. Moreover, you should update or remove your comments whenever you change your code, to avoid inconsistency and confusion.

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Matteo Regazzi

Technical Agility Coach and Agile Coach - All opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer
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In modern languages, a comment in code is a symptom of code that should be refactored because it does not reveal intent. By following Clean Code's suggestions, your code should become readable like well-written prose, even by non-technical stakeholders, especially if your code meets executable specifications (see Matteo Vaccari's contribution to chapter 6).

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3 Follow coding standards and best practices

A third way to ensure code readability and maintainability is to follow coding standards and best practices for your programming language, framework, or platform. Coding standards and best practices are guidelines or rules that define how to write, format, structure, and document your code in a consistent and efficient way. They can help you and others to avoid common errors, bugs, or security issues, and to improve the performance, reliability, and compatibility of your code. For example, you can follow the PEP 8 style guide for Python, the PSR standards for PHP, or the Google Java Style Guide for Java. You can also use tools such as linters, formatters, or code analyzers to check and enforce your coding standards and best practices.

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4 Use modular and reusable code

A fourth way to improve code readability and maintainability is to use modular and reusable code. Modular and reusable code means that you break down your code into smaller and independent units or modules that perform a single function or responsibility, and that you reuse them whenever possible. This can help you and others to reduce code duplication, complexity, and length, and to increase code cohesion, coupling, and testability. For example, you can use functions, methods, or classes to encapsulate your code into modules, and use parameters, arguments, or inheritance to reuse them. You can also use comments, docstrings, or annotations to document your modules and their interfaces.

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5 Use version control and documentation

A fifth way to ensure code readability and maintainability is to use version control and documentation. Version control and documentation are tools or processes that help you and others to track, manage, and collaborate on your code changes, and to communicate the features, requirements, and status of your system. Version control allows you to create, save, and compare different versions or snapshots of your code, and to revert or merge them as needed. Documentation allows you to describe the purpose, functionality, and usage of your system, and to provide instructions, examples, or references for your code. For example, you can use Git, SVN, or Mercurial as version control systems, and Markdown, Sphinx, or Javadoc as documentation tools.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Matteo Vaccari

Technical Principal @ Thoughtworks Italia
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Automated test coverage, in the form of both microtests and customer tests is an essential tool to achieve readability and maintainability; here's why. Microtests, also known as "unit tests" act as a safety net that enables developers to refactor the code to increase readability, without fear of breaking something in the process. Without tests, changing the code for nonfunctional reasons such as "improving readability" is expensive and dangerous, as you then have to re-test the application and risk missing something anyway. Customer tests, as in BDD, are written in the language of non-technical stakeholders and ensure that the features they care about still work, acting as executable documentation.

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What are the best ways to ensure code readability and maintainability for non-technical stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Use consistent and meaningful naming conventions

2 Write clear and concise comments

3 Follow coding standards and best practices

4 Use modular and reusable code

5 Use version control and documentation

6 Here’s what else to consider

System Development

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What are the best ways to ensure code readability and maintainability for non-technical stakeholders?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Use consistent and meaningful naming conventions

2 Write clear and concise comments

3 Follow coding standards and best practices

4 Use modular and reusable code

5 Use version control and documentation

6 Here’s what else to consider

System Development

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