The Clean Coder Quotes

“Slaves are not allowed to say no. Laborers may be hesitant to say no. But
professionals are expected to say no. Indeed, good managers crave someone who
has the guts to say no. It’s the only way you can really get anything done.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Why do most developers fear to make continuous changes to their code? They are afraid they’ll break it! Why are they afraid they’ll break it? Because they don’t have tests.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“What would happen if you allowed a bug to slip through a module, and it cost
your company $10,000? The nonprofessional would shrug his shoulders, say
“stuff happens,” and start writing the next module. The professional would
write the company a check for $10,000!”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“When you are working on a problem, you sometimes get so close to it that you can’t see all the options. You miss elegant solutions because the creative part of your mind is suppressed by the intensity of your focus. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to go home, eat dinner, watch TV, go to bed, and then wake up the next morning and take a shower.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The problem is that we view estimates in different ways. Business likes to view estimates as commitments. Developers like to view estimates as guesses. The difference is profound.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Here is a minimal list of the things that every software professional should be conversant with: • Design patterns. You ought to be able to describe all 24 patterns in the GOF book and have a working knowledge of many of the patterns in the POSA books. • Design principles. You should know the SOLID principles and have a good understanding of the component principles. • Methods. You should understand XP, Scrum, Lean, Kanban, Waterfall, Structured Analysis, and Structured Design. • Disciplines. You should practice TDD, Object-Oriented design, Structured Programming, Continuous Integration, and Pair Programming. • Artifacts: You should know how to use: UML, DFDs, Structure Charts, Petri Nets, State Transition Diagrams and Tables, flow charts, and decision tables. Continuous”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“If you are tired or distracted, do not code.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“You should plan on working 60 hours per week. The first 40 are for your employer. The remaining 20 are for you. During this remaining 20 hours you should be reading, practicing, learning, and otherwise enhancing your career.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The fundamental assumption underlying all software projects is that software is easy to change. If you violate this assumption by creating inflexible structures, then you undercut the economic model that the entire industry is based on. In”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“You see, programmers tend to be arrogant, self-absorbed introverts. We didn’t get into this business because we like people.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“When you cannot concentrate and focus sufficiently, the code you write will be wrong. It will have bugs. It will have the wrong structure. It will be opaque and convoluted. It will not solve the customers’ real problems. In short, it will have to be reworked or redone. Working while distracted creates waste.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“You see, programmers tend to be arrogant, self-absorbed introverts. We didn’t get into this business because we like people. Most of us got into programming because we prefer to deeply focus on sterile minutia, juggle lots of concepts simultaneously, and in general prove to ourselves that we have brains the size of a planet, all while not having to interact with the messy complexities of other people.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“QA and Development should be working together to ensure the quality of the system. The”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The unit tests are documents. They describe the lowest-level design of the system.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“An estimate is not a number. An estimate is a distribution.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The cost of automating acceptance tests is so small in comparison to the cost of executing manual test plans that it makes no economic sense to write scripts for humans to execute.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Programming is an act of creation. When we write code we are creating something out of nothing. We are boldly imposing order upon chaos. We are confidently commanding, in precise detail, the behaviors of a machine that could otherwise do incalculable damage. And so, programming is an act of supreme arrogance. Professionals”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Programmers can practice in a similar fashion using a game known as ping-pong.8 The two partners choose a kata, or a simple problem. One programmer writes a unit test, and then the other must make it pass. Then they reverse roles.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“We are confidently commanding, in precise detail, the behaviors of a machine that could otherwise do incalculable damage. And so, programming is an act of supreme arrogance.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Providing too much detail can be an invitation for micro-management.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“A craftsman is someone who works quickly, but without rushing, who provides reasonable estimates and meets commitments. A craftsman knows when to say no, but tries hard to say yes. A craftsman is a professional.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“I told you those two stories because they describe two very different kinds of mentoring, neither of which are the kind that the word usually implies. In the first case I learned from the authors of a very well-written manual. In the second case I learned by observing people who were actively trying to ignore me. In both cases the knowledge gained was profound and foundational.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Professionals work together. You can’t work together while you are sitting in corners wearing headphones. So I want you sitting around tables facing each other. I want you to be able to smell each other’s fear. I want you to be able to overhear someone’s frustrated mutterings. I want serendipitous communication, both verbal and body language. I want you communicating as a unit.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The most efficient and effective way to review code is to collaborate in writing it.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Professional developers do not prevent others from working in the code. They do not build walls of ownership around code. Rather, they work with each other on as much of the system as they can. They learn from each other by working with each other on other parts of the system.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Programming is an intellectual exercise that requires extended periods of concentration and focus. Focus is a scarce resource, rather like manna.1 After you have expended your focus-manna, you have to recharge by doing unfocused activities for an hour or more. I don’t know what this focus-manna is, but I have a feeling that it is a physical substance (or possibly its lack) that affects alertness and attention. Whatever it may be, you can feel when it’s there, and you can feel when it’s gone.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Am I suggesting 100% test coverage? No, I’m not suggesting it. I’m demanding it. Every single line of code that you write should be tested. Period. Isn’t that unrealistic? Of course not. You only write code because you expect it to get executed. If you expect it to get executed, you ought to know that it works. The only way to know this is to test it.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The tests fit the production code like an antibody fits an antigen.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“As you mature in your profession, your error rate should rapidly decrease towards the asymptote of zero.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The phone had a lock on the dial. Only the teachers had the key. But that didn’t matter, because we learned that you could dial a phone (any phone) by tapping out the phone number on the switch hook. I was a drummer, so I had pretty good timing and reflexes. I could dial that modem, with the lock in place, in less than 10 seconds.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers