Heads up! To view this whole video, sign in with your Courses account or enroll in your free 7-day trial. Sign In Enroll

Structuring Your Code

Preview

Start a free Courses trial
to watch this video

Sign up for Treehouse

Code Structure Strategies

2:16 with Megan Amendola

An introduction to popular code structure strategies.

Terms:

  • Narrative flow involves writing your code as if someone were reading a story of how the program will work.
  • Iterative coding is a process where you code a small piece of your project and then test it, then code the next piece and test it, so on and so forth.
  • KISS, or keep it simple silly, is a popular acronym to remember that simple is usually better.
  • DRY, or don’t repeat yourself, is another popular acronym reminding you to keep your code free of repeats whenever possible.
  • Refactoring is the process by which you improve existing code.

Related Discussions

Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.

Sign up

    Related Discussions

    Have questions about this video? Start a discussion with the community and Treehouse staff.

    Sign up

    [MUSIC] 0:00
    Hi, my name is Megan, and I'm a teacher at Treehouse. 0:09
    When it comes to laying out your code, there are a lot of pitfalls 0:14
    a developer can fall into, especially when new to programming. 0:18
    Repeating code, code that is disorganized or 0:22
    hard to follow, and over complicating are a few examples. 0:25
    It's important to keep in mind how your code is structured. 0:30
    Both the overall file structure of your project, and 0:33
    the code inside of each file too. 0:37
    Keeping this in mind will make your code easier to read and easier to maintain. 0:39
    To help you avoid these pitfalls and improve your coding skills, 0:45
    I'm gonna walk you through a few of my favorite strategies. 0:49
    They are narrative flow, iterative coding, KISS, and DRY. 0:53
    Narrative flow involves writing your code as if someone were reading 1:00
    a story of how the program will work. 1:05
    Iterative coding is a process where you code a small piece of your project, 1:07
    then test it, then code the next piece and test it, and so on, and so forth. 1:12
    KISS or keep it simple silly, 1:17
    is a popular acronym to remember that simple is usually better. 1:20
    And lastly, DRY, or don't repeat yourself is another popular acronym, 1:25
    reminding you to keep your code free of repeats whenever possible. 1:31
    We're going to dive into each of these strategies in more 1:35
    detail throughout this workshop. 1:39
    All of these methods can be implemented while you're coding. 1:41
    Doing the hard work up front will save you a bunch of time in the long run. 1:45
    You can also implement these strategies on a completed project. 1:50
    This is called refactoring. 1:54
    [SOUND] Refactoring is the process by which you improve existing code. 1:56
    This is a great way to review your past work, 2:03
    make sure it's updated to any new standards or language updates, 2:06
    add any new features, or practice new skills you've learned. 2:10
    Let's get into it. 2:14

    You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to download course files.

    Sign up

      You need to sign up for Treehouse in order to set up Workspace

      Sign up