• DocumentCode
    962139
  • Title

    Does Beautiful Code Imply Beautiful Design?

  • Author

    Wirfs-Brock, Rebecca J.

  • Author_Institution
    Wirfs-Brock Associates, Sherwood
  • Volume
    24
  • Issue
    6
  • fYear
    2007
  • Firstpage
    18
  • Lastpage
    20
  • Abstract
    This article claims brevity can contribute to code beauty-clarity of purpose, expressive use of the programming language, and design elegance also play a part. But is there more to good design than beautiful code? A good design is more than cleanly, clearly, and consistently expressed code. Beautiful code is beautiful only if it preserves and makes evident the designer´s intent. What was once a good design often degrades as new functionality is added. It would be great to throw code away and rebuild it anew every few years, but that´s not practical. Instead, the code should be made habitable.
  • Keywords
    programming languages; software engineering; beautiful code; beautiful design; code clarity; consistently expressed code; habitable code; programming language; Computer hacking; Feathers; HTML; Helium; Java; Programming profession; Software design; Software performance; Testing; code; design; habitable code;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Journal_Title
    Software, IEEE
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • ISSN
    0740-7459
  • Type

    jour

  • DOI
    10.1109/MS.2007.163
  • Filename
    4375235