Comments on: Clean Code vs. Implementation Patterns

By: Mihai

Mihai — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:00:29 +0000

Also consider reading Martin Fowler’s “Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code”. It was the first I’ve read related to “clean code”. Wonderful book. It changed the way I am writing code. It creates me a passion in creating XP style code and make me read all the rest of Fowler’s books. The book is capturing your attention after the first chapter in which is refactoring some code.

By: aladdin

aladdin — Thu, 05 May 2011 05:57:57 +0000

I prefer “Implementation Patterns” over “Clean Code”.

1. IP, 174 pages . Clean Code, 464 pages. And for an experienced programmer, you will almost get the same conclusion, so IP gets more “reading effiency”.

2. Clean Code’s body text uses Times New Roman, and wrong leading. Awful. IP use Adobe Garamond and correct leading, which is more legible…

By: Vincent Partington

Vincent Partington — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 12:44:20 +0000

@Christian: Thanks for the tip. I’ve heard more people mention that Michael Feathers’ book is an interesting one. I’ll put it on my to-read list!

By: Christian Horsdal

Christian Horsdal — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:57:20 +0000

Thanks for an interesting comparison.

About the two books not covering how to deal with exiting code: You might find Michael Feathers Working Effectively with Legacy Code interesting. I think it’s very, very good.

By: Code Quality - Learn: OOPs, Desing Patterns, Clean Code and Refactoring « Jai’s Weblog - Tech, Security & Fun…

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:01:30 +0000

[...] For review please feel free to have a look at this Book Review and also very interesting comparison Clean Code vs. Implementation Pattern. And certainly few more enthusiastic who even say Get it. Read it. Learn it. Then live [...]

By: Craig Jones

Craig Jones — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:32:24 +0000

Thanks for comparison. I’m mostly through CC. Haven’t read IP yet, and I’m wondering if I need to bother. Based on the 3 examples you gave — “Choose Descriptive Names” (CC) vs. “Intention-Revealing Name” (IP), “Functions Should Descend Only One Level of Abstraction” (CC) vs. “Composed Method” (IP), and “Use Explanatory Variables” (CC) vs. “Role-Suggesting Name” (IP) — it seems like Martin’s CC book is more plain-spoken and therefore easier to grok. If I don’t have any questions after reading CC, will reading IP add anything? (Hmm, perhaps even if not, I should read IP anyway, just so I can communicate with other programmers who have read IP but not CC.)

By: fritz freiheit.com » Link dump

fritz freiheit.com » Link dump — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 20:57:39 +0000

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By: Henry Ho

Henry Ho — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:12:39 +0000

I just read Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship, and I must say, Chapter 17. Smells and Heuristics is the most awesome chapter I have ever read!

Thank you for introducing me to such a good book.

By: dennis sellinger

dennis sellinger — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:54:32 +0000

One more point. The more we try to write clean code (i.e. short methods that do exactly one thing), the more our code files can become a big mess of methods (in my IDE I don’t even have a way to know that a method is never called (even a private one!).

IDEs generally provide “extract method” tools, but mine (Visual Studio) does not offer any tools to reorganize the code. Result, the code file is a stream of consciousness mess of short methods.

So, I think tool providers have to start looking at doing method extraction with code reorganization in mind if we are ever to truely exploit the techniques of CC and IP.

In addition, as we start “sorting” methods, we will also have problems with source code systems that will be continually finding change conflicts. So SCM tools have to start having method granularity rather than just code file granulatiry.

So I think if we are to adopt some of these techniques, the tool providers have to start inventing new tools that will help us structure code files more easily.

By: Caligula

Caligula — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:42:16 +0000

@John K Patrick: the “patterns” referred to here are not “design patterns”.