Introduction, Code Formatting, and Tools

In this chapter, we will explore the first concepts related to clean code, starting with what it is and what it means. The main goal of the chapter is to understand that clean code is not just a nice thing to have or a luxury in software projects. It's a necessity. Without quality code, the project will face the perils of failing due to an accumulation of technical debt (technical debt is something we'll discuss at length later in the chapter, so don't worry if you haven't heard the term before).

Along the same lines, but going into a bit more detail, are the concepts of formatting and documenting the code. These also might sound like superfluous requirements or tasks, but again, we will discover that they play a fundamental role in keeping the code base maintainable and workable.

We will analyze the importance of adopting a good coding guideline for this project. Realizing that maintaining the code...