A Score for Development Optimization

Optimization removes the unneeded. The supreme development methodology removes itself.

Change is constant; admit change.

Change but do not disrupt; bend without breaking; bring peace, not chaos.

Code is written once, but read without limit; therefore, code to read, not to write.

Good design makes implementation easy; the clearest design makes implementation unnecessary.

If the words are wrong, the sentence cannot be right; choose vocabulary carefully and grammar is simple.

Safety that fights change fights itself.

When there is much code, each piece seems simple, but the whole remains hidden; when code diminishes, the whole cannot be hidden.

Verbosity obscures intent; concision reveals ignorance.

A solid structure supports much code, but a single fault collapses the entire base.

Narrow focus hinders motion; continued success requires freedom to move.

Code should not only reveal what was and what is, but also what may be.

Productivity comes from understanding, understanding from learning; therefore optimize learning.

From economy of expression springs learning, efficiency, and simplicity; its value cannot be measured.

A false knowledge harms more than a true ignorance; better to be blind than to think that you see.

Generality is not parameterization.

The best word shortens many sentences; the best sentence makes many books useless; this is economy of expression.

All things must be defined, implemented, and integrated. Each step comes before the next; a correct early step towards peace triumphs over frantic running. [Chaos Model/Strategy]

To achieve clearest design, the spoken must be easily written, the written must be easily run and easily read, the read must be easily spoken; in all this, the language must exit the mind, leaving only the concept.

One ponders a single word more readily than a sentence, a sentence more readily than a tome.