So, when do you know you code well?

[phait_accompli]

I posted this image at another forum as kind of a gag:

http://www.phait-accompli.com/crap/beautifulcode.jpg

One person remarked that there was nothing beautiful about the coding style. I replied it isn't about the style, just the silly font idea.

But it got me thinking - when do you know you are coding efficiently and constructively? When do you know are writing well written code, basically? It can't be that obvious.

[ujjwal]

It is an good question.
In theory.The time complexity and space complexity of an algorithm of your program
In practical How It is working with a few codes(small codes) with indention.means your code is not Procedural way.It should so compact that Every programmar knows after your written it.
This is my approach. PHP guru Can tell you more prominent or say correct way.

[phait_accompli]

I'm giving this a bump, I know alot of traffic comes through here and I'm real interested in more thoughts.

[mythix]

In the case of PHP, turn on all warnings in the ini file

its amazing how many warnings youyr code can produce. If you get rid of them tharts a good start

[shiflett]

When do you know are writing well written code, basically?

When you don't have to ask. :-)

Just kidding.

Personally, I feel confident that I can determine the approximate quality of a developer from ten feet away. Those who write neat code typically also write good code. Those who are sloppy or inconsistent in their formatting are more likely to write poor code.

[vinyl-junkie]

If I can look at code that I did a year or more ago and still understand and follow what it's doing, then I would say it's well written.

I know your original post was sort of a joke, but "pretty" code doesn't always equate to well-written.

[Super Phil]

OOP + Test Driven Development is a good indication of if you write good PHP code.

[sweatje]

"

A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.

[loadx]

Nice Quote Sweatje

simplify the code as much as you can but still make it readable..make it easier to modify but in the industry i would rephrase that to 'make it easier for your own team and yourself to modify'.

[Brenden Vickery]

There is a thoughtworks article out just today that touches on this subject. Michael Feather's position in Before Clarity is that sometimes you should sacrifice the clarity of code for testability of code.