The Art of Readable Code
by Dustin Boswell · first published 2011
79% recommend14% neutral7% critical
Why HN recommends it
A short, example-driven guide to writing clearer code, focused on naming, layout, and simplifying logic. It is well written and a quick read for working developers who want more readable code.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
As programmers, we've all seen source code that's so ugly and buggy it makes our brain ache. Over the past five years, authors Dustin Boswell and Trevor Foucher have analyzed hundreds of examples of "bad code" (much of it their own) to determine why they're bad and how they could be improved. Their conclusion? You need to write code that minimizes the time it would take someone else to understand it -- even if that someone else is you. This book focuses on basic principles and practical techniques you can apply every time you write code. Using easy-to-digest code examples from different langua
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…https://cleancoders.com/ videos Hunt and Thomas, The Pragmatic Programmer: https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-Journeyman-Maste... Hitchhiker's Guide to Python: https://docs.python-guide.org/ Dustin Boswell The Art of Readable Code: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Readable-Code-Practical-Technique... John Ousterhout, A Philosophy of Software Design: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Software-Design-John-Ouste... This one looks particularly…
on “Ask HN: How to transition from academic programming to software engineering?” ↗The Art of Readable Code is excellent. http://www.amazon.com/Art-Readable-Code-Dustin-Boswell/dp/05...
on “Ask HN: Recommended Books/Articles on clean code design.” ↗…with a strong focus on proven practices that enhance software quality in terms of readability and maintainability (and other software ~ilities) to ease the process of changing the software later on. The Art of Readable Code by Dustin Boswell & Trevor Foucher Don't Make Me Think 2ed by Steve Krug Remote: Office not Required by Jason Fried & DHH The Art of Unit Testing by Roy Osherove Code Complete 2 by Steve McConnell…
on “Ask HN: What book changed your life in 2013?” ↗This (arguably nice) post covers a small number of the points made in the book The Art of Readable Code: Simple and Practical Techniques for Writing Better Code[1] I can recommend this to every programmer, even experienced ones, because even if they might know most of the things mentioned, it is presented…
on “Writing good code: how to reduce the cognitive load of your code” ↗No, there are new, concise book, though I agree they're rare: The Art of Readable Code (by Googlers) http://www.amazon.com/Art-Readable-Code-Dustin-Boswell/dp/05...
on “Books Programmers Don't Really Read But Recommend” ↗I would recommend "The Art of Readable Code" by Boswell. It is very well-written and enjoyable. http://www.amazon.com/The-Readable-Code-Dustin-Boswell/dp/05...
on “Must-read programming books?” ↗Another book you'll enjoy if you liked this post: "The Art of Readable Code" (http://www.amazon.com/Art-Readable-Code-Theory-Practice/dp/0...)
on “A Guide to Naming Variables” ↗"The Art of Readable Code", by Dustin Boswell and Trevor Foucher. Simple ways to make code more readable.
on “Ask HN: What language-agnostic programming books should I read?” ↗> the judgment / taste required to make maintainable changes to a million LOC repository Try The Art of Readable Code (a pair of google authors, IIRC), and Ousterhout's A Philosophy of Software Design.
on “Ask HN: How to transition from academic programming to software engineering?” ↗I highly recommend "The Art of Readable Code: Simple and Practical Techniques for Writing Better Code", by Dustin Boswell and Trevor Foucher. It's an easy read, and well explained with good examples.
on “Guidelines for writing readable code” ↗I went through my recent-books shelves and found a few shorter books that are well worth reading. Short books for developers are rare these days. Algorithms Unlocked, Thomas Cormen, 212 pages The Art of Readable Code, Dustin Boswell & Trevor Foucher, 180 pages How To Take Smart Notes, Sonke Ahrens, 151 pages How to Write a Thesis, Umberto Eco, 223 pages How Charts Lie, Alberto Cairo, 193 pages
on “Ask HN: Best books under 200 pages for developers?” ↗…again, the cost of useless comment is usually much smaller than the cost of mental load (everyone knows how to ignore comments, unless they fill pages...) All this being said, I can only recommend "The Art of Readable Code" - Boswell [1]. [1] https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-art-of/978144931848...
on “Useful and useless code comments” ↗The Art of Readable Code Best book on software engineering in a good while.
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…projects on the weekends, when I come back to the code I realize how poorly it's been written, especially if I've skipped a weekend. I'm really striving to make my code readable. A great book I read is "The Art of Readable Code", and while it focuses on code readability from a micro-level (making a small code sample readable), I find more knowledge is needed to make a program readable when reading it from start to finish. The…
on “Ask HN: Where can I find easy to read code, that can be understood completely?” ↗…out good engineering books, which I think does help: From https://github.com/feldera/feldera/blob/main/CLAUDE.md: - Adhere to rules in "Code Complete" by Steve McConnell. - Adhere to rules in "The Art of Readable Code" by Dustin Boswell & Trevor Foucher. - Adhere to rules in "Bugs in Writing: A Guide to Debugging Your Prose" by Lyn Dupre. - Adhere to rules in "The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition" by William Strunk…
on “Clean code in the age of coding agents” ↗