Brian Kernighan's Programming Style Tips

  • Say what you mean, simply and directly.
  • Use the ``telephone test'' for readability.
  • Write clearly - don't be too clever.
  • Don't use conditional expressions as a substitute for a logical expression.
  • Parenthesize to avoid ambiguity.
  • Each time you make a test, do something.
  • Follow each decision as closely as possible with its associated action.
  • Use the good features of a language; avoid the bad ones.
  • Capture regularity in control flow, irregularity in data.
  • Each module should do one thing well.
  • Make sure comments and code agree.
  • Don't just echo the code with comments - make every comment count.
  • Don't comment bad code - rewrite it.
  • Use symbolic constants for magic numbers.
  • Watch out for side effects and order of evaluation.
  • Macros are not functions.
  • Watch out for off-by-one errors.
  • Test programs at their boundaries.
  • Program defensively.
  • Make sure input cannot violate the limits of the program.
  • Make it right before you make it faster.
  • Keep it right when you make it faster.
  • Don't sacrifice clarity for small gains in ``efficiency.''
  • Don't stop with your first draft.

[From The Elements of Programming Style, Kernighan & Plauger, McGraw-Hill, 1978]
Note: this book is still well worth reading- even though most of the examples are in languages that you probably haven't heard of, the principles are universal. -DJE

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