Clean code best practices

Use when writing or reviewing code for clarity, simplicity, naming, duplication reduction, and maintainability.

Goal

• Optimize for code that is easy to read, change, and trust.
• Prefer code that is obvious to another engineer over code that is merely clever.
• Keep moving parts to the minimum that still expresses the domain correctly.

Readability

• Choose clear names for variables, functions, types, and modules. Names should explain purpose, not force the reader to reconstruct intent.
• Prefer small, coherent functions that do one thing at one level of abstraction.
• Keep control flow straightforward. Flatten deeply nested conditionals when guard clauses or better decomposition make the path easier to follow.

Duplication and structure