Changes between Version 10 and Version 11 of DesignGuidelines

Timestamp:

Apr 21, 2009, 6:34:26 AM (15 years ago)

Author:

MarkDoliner

Comment:

Add a paragraph about writing clean/simple code (not just clean/simple UI)

DesignGuidelines

@@ -13 +13 @@
   ''Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.''  --Antoine de Saint-Exupery
 
-In general we try to keep things simple.  Especially when it comes to preferences in the user interface.  Pidgin should be as streamlined as possible.  It is an IM client, so messaging someone should be easy.  See [http://www106.pair.com/rhp/free-software-ui.html this essay] by Havoc Pennington for an explanation of some ideas that we try to follow.
+In general we try to keep the code and the user interface simple.  Especially when it comes to preferences in the UI.  Pidgin should be as streamlined as possible.  It is an IM client, so messaging someone should be easy.  See [http://www106.pair.com/rhp/free-software-ui.html this essay] by Havoc Pennington for an explanation of some ideas that we try to follow.
+
+It's important for the code to be simple because this is an open source project and developers come and go.  You never know who's going to be looking at your code next.  If you write a function that's hard to follow then the next person that comes along will end up rewriting it, and that's counterproductive.
 
 == Clean Layering ==