Cognitive Scaffold

Preparing your thinking workspace

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MENTAL MODEL · M2175

Clean Code

Clean Code
TechnicalHigh supportSoftware Engineering
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Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Code is primarily written for humans to read, and incidentally for machines to execute. Characteristics of clean code: clear naming, short functions, single responsibility, no duplication.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

A manifestation of professionalism. In any collaboration, the readability of the output is more important than showing off skills. Whether writing documentation, code, or emails, the highest standard is that the next person to take over can understand it instantly.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Robert C. Martin proposed that code should be readable, have single responsibility, clear naming, and no duplication, and be as maintainable as prose. It prioritizes maintainability.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Practice this model in one real situation:

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_C._MartinZH · Explicit
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RELATED MODELS

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Shotgun Surgery

A poor code structure where a single functional change requires modifying many different classes or modules.

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The Law of Leaky Abstractions

All non-trivial abstractions leak details.

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Feature Envy

A type of code smell

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