How do you make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain?

Algorithms are the core of many software applications, but they can also be complex, hard to read, and prone to errors. If you want to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain, you need to follow some best practices and use some helpful tools. In this article, you will learn how to write clear, consistent, and well-documented algorithms that can be shared and improved by others.

1 Choose a suitable language

The first step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to choose a suitable programming language for your problem domain and audience. Different languages have different strengths, weaknesses, syntax, and conventions that can affect how you express your logic and how others can interpret it. For example, if you are working on a mathematical or scientific problem, you might prefer a language that supports numerical computation and data analysis, such as Python, MATLAB, or R. If you are working on a web or mobile application, you might prefer a language that supports user interface and network communication, such as JavaScript, Java, or Swift. You should also consider the availability and quality of libraries, frameworks, and tools that can help you implement your algorithms more efficiently and effectively.

Add your perspective

Sairam Sankaran

Builder
Report contribution
One of the most effective ways to achieve this is to modularize your code as much as possible (try to fit each class above the fold) and naming your variables intuitively.

Like
Panagiotis Petsas

Tech Lead | Principal Software Engineer | Code Untangler
(edited)
Report contribution
Divide and conquer! Basically split up large chunks of code into single (or very limited) responsibility functions that are easy to read, maintain and test. If you have the option, use strongly typed languages. As a general rule of thumb I try to do the following, whenever possible : Avoid regexes. Especially complex ones. Avoid recursion, except in a few cases needed. Avoid class inheritance. (Most times you will end up shooting yourself in the foot. There are better ways in reusing code, like interfaces and traits). Do not try to future proof your code. More often than not, you will be wasting time abstracting things and making code less readable.

Like

2 Follow a consistent style

The second step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to follow a consistent style throughout your code. A style guide is a set of rules and recommendations that define how you format, name, and structure your code elements, such as variables, functions, classes, comments, and indentation. Following a style guide can help you avoid common errors, improve readability, and facilitate collaboration. You can use an existing style guide, such as PEP 8 for Python or Google Java Style Guide, or create your own based on your preferences and needs. You can also use tools such as linters, formatters, and editors that can automatically check and correct your code style.

Add your perspective

Thomas Said

Senior Software Engineer | Python | Backend | DevOps | Generative AI
Report contribution
Standardize the code style is the best way in medium and enormous teams, it gives the team the ability to contribute to the codebase without worrying about the readability of the code, also writing documentation for your code and algorithm that helps the team member to do depend on exact person to add or change the code.

Like

3 Use meaningful names

The third step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to use meaningful names for your code elements. Names are the primary way of communicating the purpose and function of your code to yourself and others. Therefore, you should choose names that are descriptive, concise, and consistent. For example, instead of using vague or generic names such as x, y, z, or foo, bar, baz, you should use names that reflect the role and value of the variables, such as width, height, area, or username, password, email. Similarly, instead of using names that are too long or complex, such as calculateTheAreaOfTheTriangleGivenTheLengthsOfTheThreeSides, you should use names that are simple and clear, such as triangleArea or getTriangleArea. You should also follow the naming conventions of your language and style guide, such as using camelCase or snake_case, or using uppercase or lowercase for constants.

Add your perspective

4 Write clear comments

The fourth step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to write clear comments that explain the logic and intention of your code. Comments are the secondary way of communicating the purpose and function of your code to yourself and others. Therefore, you should write comments that are informative, concise, and consistent. For example, instead of writing comments that are redundant or obvious, such as # add one to x, you should write comments that are useful and relevant, such as # increment x to avoid zero division error. Similarly, instead of writing comments that are too long or complex, such as # this function takes three arguments: a, b, and c, and returns the result of applying the formula (a + b) / c to them, you should write comments that are simple and clear, such as # return the average of a and b. You should also follow the commenting conventions of your language and style guide, such as using # or // for single-line comments, or /* or """ for multi-line comments.

Add your perspective

5 Use modular design

The fifth step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to use modular design to break down your code into smaller and simpler units that can be reused and tested. Modular design is the principle of dividing a complex system into smaller and simpler components that have well-defined interfaces and responsibilities. For example, instead of writing a long and complicated function that does many things, such as reading data from a file, processing it, and writing it to another file, you should write several smaller and simpler functions that do one thing each, such as readFile, processData, and writeFile. This way, you can reduce the complexity, redundancy, and coupling of your code, and increase the readability, reusability, and testability of your code.

Add your perspective

Javier Ojeda

Software Engineer
Report contribution
This is the most important point from my point of view, algorithms have a lot of things that you should understand so splitting into some functions with a good naming could help other people to understand what are you doing. Also in algorithms many lines of codes or steps, could be helpful in order to test smaller functionalities of the algorithm.

Like

6 Use documentation tools

The sixth step to make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain is to use documentation tools to generate and maintain comprehensive and consistent documentation for your code. Documentation is the external way of communicating the purpose and function of your code to yourself and others. Therefore, you should use documentation tools that can help you create and update documentation that is accurate, complete, and accessible. For example, you can use tools such as Doxygen, Sphinx, or Javadoc that can extract information from your code comments and generate documentation in various formats, such as HTML, PDF, or Markdown. You can also use tools such as Git, GitHub, or Bitbucket that can help you store, manage, and share your code and documentation online.

Add your perspective

Thomas Said

Senior Software Engineer | Python | Backend | DevOps | Generative AI
Report contribution
Using the proper documentation tool to write the docs for your project or services is a major thing. and keeping the all docs and design docs organized in one place helps any new member join the team onboard easily and start work fast.

Like

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

Add your perspective

Ankit Jasani

Magento Master | 8x Adobe Certified Developer ( 6x Adobe Commerce Magento & 2x Adobe Real-time CDP )
Report contribution
- It should be well maintained & defined with proper formatting. - Shorter and understandable comments only when needed. - Remove duplicate or unused code snippets - Well defined & meaningful variable names

Like
Dragoslav Stojčić

Software Architect & Developer: Crafting Innovative Solutions to Transform Business Processes
Report contribution
- chose appropriate data structures - implement thorough unit tests - avoid unnecessary abstractions - implement clear error handling Avoid optimizing it from the start. First make a simple version that works and then optimize it. While optimizing put in comments that explaing the reasons behind more complex optimizations.

Like

How do you make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Choose a suitable language

2 Follow a consistent style

3 Use meaningful names

4 Write clear comments

5 Use modular design

6 Use documentation tools

7 Here’s what else to consider

Algorithms

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

More articles on Algorithms

More relevant reading

How do you make your algorithms easier to understand and maintain?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Choose a suitable language

2 Follow a consistent style

3 Use meaningful names

4 Write clear comments

5 Use modular design

6 Use documentation tools

7 Here’s what else to consider

Algorithms

Rate this article

Thanks for your feedback

Explore Other Skills