Uploaded September 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Experienced coders can sometimes tell bad code on sight, not from any aspect of its inherent functionality, but from largely aesthetic characteristics. Turns out those principles have some use in other fields.

- Links for the Curious-

Most of my favorite descriptions of these principles are from WikiWikiWeb, the original implementation of the Wiki architecture, created by a bunch of programmers. I highly recommend browsing thru the thing - lots of great ideas & fun stuff.

Front Page - wiki.c2.com
Once and Only Once - wiki.c2.com/?OnceAndOnlyOnce
God Object - wiki.c2.com/?GodObject
Worse is Better - wiki.c2.com/?WorseIsBetter
Self-Documenting Code - wiki.c2.com/?SelfDocumentingCode

Laws of UX - lawsofux.com

“What is Good Code? A Scientific Definition” by some unnamed writer at Intent HQ - blog.intenthq.com/blog/what-is-good-code-a-scientific-definition

“Doing One Thing Well: The UNIX Philosophy” by Bryan Cockfield - hackaday.com/2018/09/10/doing-one-thing-well-the-unix-philosophy

“The Rise of Worse Is Better” by Richard P. Gabriel - https://web.mit.edu/6.033/www/papers/Worse_is_Better.pdf

“Going Dawkins on god objects.” by Edmund Kirwan - edmundkirwan.com/general/godobject.html