What does the practice of writing clean code aim to improve?

The practice of writing clean code primarily aims to enhance the readability and maintainability of code. Clean code is characterized by its clarity, simplicity, and organization, allowing developers to easily understand what the code does without extensive explanations or annotations. This clarity is essential in collaborative environments, where multiple developers may work on the same codebase over time.

When code is cleanly written, it reduces the cognitive load required to comprehend and modify it, leading to fewer bugs and faster development cycles. It also makes onboarding new developers easier, as they can grasp the structure and purpose of the code more quickly. Furthermore, maintainability is improved because changes can be made with confidence, knowing that well-organized and well-named structures will facilitate understanding of how different parts of the application interact.

While performance, feature count, and complexity are important aspects of software development, they are not the primary focus of clean code. Clean code practices primarily target improving quality through readability and maintainability, setting a strong foundation for any further enhancements or optimizations.