In the Elements of Style, William Strunk describes one of his pricinples of composition Omit needless words by saying

A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts.

These words resonate with me; I hold a similar view about how software should be written and as I read this book a number of its rules & principles seem to apply equally to writing good software. This makes sense since the majority of code we write is in English. It seems to me that every developer who aspires to be their best would do well to aquire this guide; so, I’ve added this book to my list of books every software developer should own.

Strunk and White’s concise guide to style should be read and re-read by any who are involved reguarly in writing or speaking. Most of their comments are helpful. However, the reader would do well to remember that in matters of style, rules are sometimes best broken.

Indespensible advice.

I carry this around with me in my laptop bag and read a few things out of it before I begin writing. It’s an excellent little book.