The Art of Efficient Code
26 Apr 2023
When new programmers start writing projects, they often write “blindly.” For example, let’s say you are a web designer. You have to create a website for your client; to do so, you may have to start from a blank file and modify the website’s layout every time. Of course, you can’t write some of the essential features of a website and other systems from scratch in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, there are times when you can copy and modify the code from past projects to achieve the imaginary requirements. But creating a project this way is painful and time-consuming, especially for larger, more complex projects. As a result, you end up with a project that could be more varied, error-prone, and easier to maintain. And in this scenario, if you are working on a project as a team, this kind of blindness can make it difficult for developers to establish best practices and communication guidelines, which can lead to inconsistencies and confusion among team members.
Unlocking the Power of Reusable Solutions
In 1977, architect Christopher Alexander argued that timeless and universal principles govern the design of buildings, cities, and other structures. By identifying and using these design principles, it is possible to construct buildings acceptable to a broader audience. In the 1980s, Kent Beck and Ward Cunningham applied the same philosophy to software programming.
Smalltalk-80 patterns, a pattern system they created for the programming language Smalltalk. They found that software designs often have recurring solutions. So why not use these solutions and document them in a standardized way while other developers can apply them more effectively to improve productivity? So they wrote the description of the problem solved, the description of the solution, and example implementations in a standardized format. For example, how much functionality is available in Meteor based on the features used in Meteor and the optimization of code efficiency. Or, for example, building a new car so that the developer doesn’t have to start by developing the wheels every time. Because each wheel uses the same solution, balance and consistency are maintained. And this is what we now call a design pattern.
The Optimized Journey
Design patterns provide a common language for developers to follow and best practices to create efficient and maintainable code. And this is a framework for optimizing software development with design patterns. It helps developers collaborate to improve code readability and consistency. Meteor, for example, is a full-stack JavaScript framework, and one of how Meteor optimizes application development is by using design patterns. And it is understood that Meteor provides a clear focus between the data model, the user interface, and the application’s business logic by using the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. This allows developers to make changes with an understanding of the role of the code. Developers can complete projects focusing on building the application based on tools such as the API provided by Meteor to optimize code writing.
Simplifying Complex Solution
When studying software development from time to time, I have heard of modules to learn the content of different modules to complete a topic, etc. And this can be said to be an exclusive use of design patterns in a method: “The Module pattern.” In learning, we use this pattern almost all the time. Why? When we study a chapter, we divide the branch’s content into several subheadings, and in these subheadings, we look for a selection of knowledge of the same content and organize it. The module pattern in software development is similar; encapsulating code into separate modules helps reduce coupling between different parts of the system, making it easier to manage and maintain the code. And it’s something you’ll always come across in learning JavaScript. Specifically, you create an object containing private variables and functions that can only be accessed within the module’s scope. The module then provides a set of public parts that can be used to interact with the private variables and functions.
In short, by developing or learning to program in this mode, you can better understand your shortcomings and maintain the code better and faster. And this is the most essential part of learning programming to apply in my future career.