Writing Code for the Next Person

As a software engineer enthusiastic about creating cool technology, I am equally passionate about writing good code. By “good code,” I mean code that is bug-free, stable, reusable, and maintainable. Over the years, I have encountered both excellent code and horrendous code. The latter is a serious problem.

Bug-ridden software often results from carelessness, rushed development, or a lack of unit testing. Beyond the issues introduced during initial development, poorly written code creates long-term maintenance challenges. It significantly increases costs for companies.

In contrast, well-written and well-documented code enhances reusability, which can lower the cost of software development. Companies that invest in reusable libraries avoid redundant work, saving time on future projects. While open-source projects can be valuable, I have found tremendous benefits in maintaining an in-house repository of source code that follows consistent design, documentation, and style guidelines.

This belief led me to give a presentation to my team titled Writing Code for the Next Person. It was well-received, though not everyone agreed with every point. Nonetheless, the ideas have proven successful. Since then, I have created a short document summarizing the key takeaways from that presentation, which include:

• File descriptions
• Function descriptions
• Commenting
• System documentation
• Naming conventions
• Code style

I strongly believe that engineers should write code with future maintainers in mind. All successful code will eventually be maintained by someone other than the original author(s). I encourage you to review Writing Code for the Next Person and share any feedback you may have.