3 Code Smells That Might Be Destroying Your Code

Recently, I watched a fascinating video by Junior Alves about code smells, and I felt inspired to share these ideas with you. As developers, we've all encountered code that's difficult to understand or maintain. But do you know how to identify the signs that your code might be "smelling bad"? Let's explore three critical code smells that could be affecting your code quality.

What Are Code Smells?

Before we dive into the details, it's important to understand what code smells are. According to the book "Modern Software Engineering", code smells are indicators of low-quality code - code that's hard to maintain, understand, modify, or test. Essentially, it's code that doesn't "smell good" and might need refactoring.

The 3 Main Code Smells

1. Duplicated Code

Duplicated code is often considered the worst of code smells. When you have the same logic repeated in various places in your code, any change to this logic needs to be made in multiple locations. This not only increases the chance of errors but also makes code maintenance much more difficult.

Solution: Create a centralized class or method to manage common logic. This not only reduces duplication but also makes your code easier to maintain and update.

2. Large Classes or Components

When a class or component grows too big, it becomes difficult to understand and maintain. This increases what we call "cognitive load" - the mental effort needed to comprehend the code.

Solution: In the case of React, for example, use composition to break large components into smaller, more manageable parts. This makes your code more readable and easier to maintain.

3. Primitive Obsession

This code smell occurs when we use primitive types (like strings or numbers) to represent complex concepts. For example, treating a social security number only as a string can lead to validation and consistency problems.

Solution: Use classes to encapsulate the logic and validations related to complex concepts. In Domain-Driven Design (DDD), this is known as Value Objects.

How to Prevent Code Smells

1. Tests: Writing tests not only helps ensure your code works correctly but also facilitates future refactoring.
2. Code Review: Be critical of your own code and that of your colleagues. A good code review process can catch many code smells before they become bigger problems.
3. Documentation: Well-written code is a form of documentation. Well-written tests also serve as living documentation of your code's expected behavior.

Conclusion

Remember, not every code smell needs to be refactored immediately. The decision to refactor depends on the importance of the code and how often it needs to be maintained. The important thing is to be aware of these signs and work continuously to improve your code quality.

I challenge you to analyze your own code for these code smells. Being critical of your own work and that of your colleagues is the first step in creating a healthier and more productive development environment.

I'd like to thank Junior Alves for sharing this valuable knowledge in his video

Thanks for reading! If you want to read more of my articles, you can find them here. Feel free to get in touch - I always enjoy talking and sharing experiences with other developers.