The Clean Coder Quotes

“As an engineer, you have a depth of knowledge about your systems and projects that no managers can possibly have. With that knowledge comes the responsibility to act.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Programming is so hard, in fact, that it is beyond the capability of one person to do it well. No matter how skilled you are, you will certainly benefit from another programmer’s thoughts and ideas.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“If we really want to spend our days programming, we are going to have to learn to talk to—people.1”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Woe to the poor developer who buckles under pressure and agrees to try to make the deadline. That developer will start taking shortcuts and working extra hours in the vain hope of working a miracle.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Premature Precision Both business and programmers are tempted to fall into the trap of premature precision. Business people want to know exactly what they are going to get before they authorize a project. Developers want to know exactly what they are supposed to deliver before they estimate the project. Both sides want a precision that simply cannot be achieved, and are often willing to waste a fortune trying to attain it.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Crisis Discipline

You know what you believe by observing yourself in a crisis. If in a crisis you follow your disciplines, then you truly believe in those disciplines. On the other hand, if you change your behavior in a crisis, then you don’t truly believe in your normal behavior.

If you follow the discipline of Test Driven Development in noncrisis times but abandon it during a crisis, then you don’t really trust that TDD is helpful. If you keep your code clean during normal times but make messes in a crisis, then you don’t really believe that messes slow you down. If you pair in a crisis but don’t normally pair, then you believe pairing is more efficient than non-pairing. Choose disciplines that you feel comfortable following in a crisis. Then follow them all the time . Following these disciplines is the best way to avoid getting into a crisis. Don’t change your behavior when the crunch comes. If your disciplines are the best way to work, then they should be followed even in the depths of a crisis.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: 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.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The Three Laws of TDD You are not allowed to write any production code until you have first written a failing unit test. You are not allowed to write more of a unit test than is sufficient to fail—and not compiling is failing. You are not allowed to write more production code that is sufficient to pass the currently failing unit test.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“... creative output depends on creative input.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“...creative output depends on creative input.”
― Robert C. Martin, The Clean Coder: 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. Yes,”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The only way to prove that your software is easy to change is to make easy changes to it. And when you find that the changes aren’t as easy as you thought, you refine the design so that the next change is easier. When do you make these easy changes? All the time! Every time you look at a module you make small, lightweight changes to it to improve its structure.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“Professionals are often heroes, but not because they try to be. Professionals become heroes when they get a job done well, on time, and on budget.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“In a globalized economy, where corporations are held to the almighty dollar and raising the stock price involves layoffs, overworked staffs, and offshoring, this strategy I’ve shown you of cutting developer costs is making good code obsolete. As developers, we’re going to be asked/told/conned into writing twice the code in half the time if we’re not careful.”
― 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.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers

“The fact that the task to write perfect software is virtually impossible does not mean you aren’t responsible for the imperfection.”
― Robert C. Martin, Clean Coder, The: A Code of Conduct for Professional Programmers