3 Principles in Software Development

In recent times, I’ve seen many developers working long hours, struggling to meet deadlines, and feeling stressed out. It seems like they might not know about some important principles that could help them manage their workload better. In this article, I want to talk about a few key principles that are useful for everyday web and software development. These principles can make our work easier and help us get things done faster. So Let’s dive right in.

KISS Principle

KISS — Keep it Short, Simple

KISS Principle states that simplicity in design and avoiding unnecessary complexity whenever possible. Here are the advantages of using KISS in software development:

• Easy to understand: Simpler code/solutions are easier for the developers to understand, maintain, and debug.
• Less Bugs: Complex systems are more prone to errors due to their complexity. Simplicity reduces the chances of bugs and makes the code more reliable and easier to debug.
• Faster Development: Simplifying code leads to faster development. Simple code is quicker to write, test, and iterate, resulting in quicker feature updates.

The KISS principle is not only relevant to software developers but also for designers across various areas, such as graphic design, user experience (UX) design, and more.

For example, In designing user experiences, simplicity is essential. When interfaces are simple, users find it easier to understand and use them. This means they can get things done quickly without feeling overwhelmed.

Overall, The KISS principle encourages better coding practices, which in turn enhances the quality of code, and ultimately leads to better software outcomes for both developers and end-users.

YAGNI Principle

YAGNI — You Aren’t Gonna Need It

The YAGNI principle suggests that you should only implement functionality that is necessary for the current requirements and not add features or capabilities based on anticipated future needs. Let’s see some of the advantages of the YAGNI principle.

• Focus on Immediate Requirements: Developers can focus on fulfilling current requirements without being distracted by potential future requirements, ensuring timely delivery of software that meets user needs.
• Avoid Over-Engineering: YAGNI prevents over-engineering by avoiding unnecessary features and complexity for future requirements that may never arise. This saves both time and resources.

Overall, the YAGNI principle suggests a practical and efficient approach to software development, focusing on delivering value to users promptly while avoiding unnecessary complexity and waste.

S.O.L.I.D Principle

SOLID principles are five design principles that help us keep our application reusable, maintainable, scalable, and loosely coupled. Let’s look at it one by one.

Single Responsibility Principle:

The Single Responsibility Principle states that a component should have one clear purpose or responsibility. It should focus on specific functionality or behavior and avoid taking on unrelated tasks. Let’s see an example.

Imagine you’re designing a calendar app, and it has a feature for setting reminders. Now, you’re considering adding a to-do list feature to the reminder system. Instead of combining to-do lists with reminders, you decide to follow the Single Responsibility Principle. You decide, “The reminder system’s role is to alert users about events. Adding to-do lists would make it complex. Let’s keep reminders focused on events and create a separate feature for managing to-do lists.” So, you maintain the reminder system’s focus on events and design a separate feature specifically for managing to-do lists. This approach keeps the responsibilities clear and makes the app easier to understand and maintain.

Similarly, our components/functions/features should have only one responsibility which makes it easier to understand and maintain the app.

Open/Closed Principle:

The Open-Closed Principle emphasizes that components should be open for extension (can add new behaviors or functionalities) but closed for modification(existing code should remain unchanged). Let’s look at the example of the Open-Closed Principle.

Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash

Imagine you have a LEGO set that allows you to build different types of vehicles, such as cars, trucks, and airplanes. Each vehicle has its own set of unique features and functionalities. Now, let’s say you want to create a new vehicle, like a spaceship, using the existing LEGO pieces without modifying them.

• Closed for Modification: You cannot change the individual LEGO bricks themselves. Each brick has a specific shape, size, and functionality that cannot be altered.
• Open for Extension: Despite the inability to modify the bricks, you can extend their functionality by combining them in different ways to create new designs. For example, you can use certain bricks to represent engines, others for wings, and so on, to build a spaceship.

You can create new designs (in this case, a spaceship) by extending the functionality of existing LEGO pieces without altering their original form. This allows for endless creativity and exploration while maintaining the integrity of the LEGO bricks themselves.

In a similar way, our functions/components/features should be open for extension and closed for modification.

Liskov Substitution Principle:

The Liskov Substitution Principle (LSP) says that if you’re creating a new class that’s a subtype of an existing class (like adding a layer), the new class should still behave in a way that’s consistent with the original class.

Imagine you have a plain pot in your garden where you plant flowers. This pot has its original features like holding soil and water for the plants. Now, let’s say you want to add some personal touch to it by painting colorful designs on the surface. Even after adding the extra layer of paint and decorations, your pot still serves its primary function as a container for planting flowers. You can still water the plants in the pot, and they can still grow normally. If someone asks you to water the flowers in the pot, you can confidently use your decorated pot without any issues.

This example illustrates how the original pot’s functionality remains unchanged even with the addition of an extra layer of customization. Similarly, if you create a reusable button component on top of the native button element, your reusable component should have the same characteristics as the native button element. This principle also applies to your functions and classes.

Interface Segregation Principle:

The Interface Segregation Principle (ISP) suggests that interfaces should be focused and designed to specific client requirements rather than being overly broad and forcing clients to implement unnecessary functionality.

Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash

Have you ever looked at a video game controller and noticed how it’s separated into different sections?

Imagine you’re playing a classic platformer game where you control a character exploring various levels, jumping over obstacles, and defeating enemies. The video game controller, such as a console controller or a gamepad, features a set of buttons and directional controls to interact with the game environment. The controller is designed with separate sections for navigation and action buttons, physically segregating the controls for different operations. The navigation section includes directional buttons and joysticks, providing precise control over character movement for adventure games. The action button section includes dedicated buttons for attacks, jumps, and other actions, catering to the needs of fighting games. By separating navigation and action controls, the controller provides a focused and intuitive interface for each type of game, enhancing the gaming experience for players.

Similarly, your components, classes, and functions should be separated based on specific requirements, which helps the feature to be more clear, modular, flexible, and maintainable in software systems by ensuring that interfaces are designed to meet specific needs.

Dependency Inversion Principle:

The Dependency Inversion Principle (DIP) emphasizes that high-level components should not depend on low-level components. This principle fosters loose coupling and modularity and facilitates easier maintenance of software systems.

Imagine you have a reusable bottle designed with a twist-off cap and a wide mouth. The bottle’s design is versatile and can contain different fluids like juice or water whether it’s a refreshing orange juice on a sunny day or plain water during a workout. It remains the same regardless of the liquid it holds, maintaining its abstraction. This flexibility allows users to easily switch between different liquids without needing a separate container for each type and It is showing the Dependency Inversion Principle.

In software terms, this is akin to designing modules that depend on interfaces (the bottle’s design) rather than specific implementations (the liquid contents). This ensures that changes to the contents of the bottle (low-level modules) do not impact its overall functionality (high-level modules), promoting flexibility and maintainability in the system. In the same way, your component/function/class should be flexible for the low-level modules like props (in React), and arguments (for functions).

Final Thoughts

To sum up, following important principles like DRY, YAGNI, KISS, SOLID, and others can help us in our work. They make our code cleaner and easier to understand, help us work faster, and make sure our software is of high quality. By sticking to these principles, we can avoid making mistakes, save time, and create software that’s better for everyone.

Here are some easy ways to begin:

• UI/UX Design: Utilize features like components and variations in tools like Figma to maintain consistency all over the project, Integrate with tools like Storybook, which saves time and effort for both designers and developers.
• Front-end Development: Explore code linters (ESLint), plugins (like Microsoft Edge Tools for VS Code), and static analysis tools (prettier) that can automatically detect violations of coding principles.
• Back-end Development: Use tools like Swagger to generate automatic API documentation with HTTP code status examples that make it easier for developers to understand how your API behaves under different circumstances.
• AI Tools: Create an AI tool with a fine-tuning modal (customize the chatGPT model for your need) or find an AI tool that helps suggest best practices, and principle violations in the development/PR process.
• CLI: Make a scaffolding CLI tool that provides you with code snippets for specific needs.

In this article, we’ve only scratched the surface by discussing a few key principles. There are plenty more out there, such as GRASP, and DRY. Please feel free to explore them.

I hope this article is useful to you. Thanks for your time.

If you’re interested, you can explore this article on implementing SOLID principles in React applications: Mastering SOLID Principles in just 8 minutes

Stay curious; keep coding!