Improvement means deterioration.

programming practices

• Prototype before polishing. Get it working before optimizing it.
• Separate policy from mechanism, separate interfaces from engines.
• Write simple modular parts connected by clean interfaces.
• Design programs to be connected to other programs.
• Write programs to write programs when you can.
• Design for the future, because it will be here sooner than you think.
• In interface design, always do the least surprising thing.
• When a program has nothing surprising to say, it should say nothing.
• When a program must fail, it should fail noisily and as soon as possible.
• Write big programs only when it is clear by demonstration that nothing else will do.
• Consider how you would solve your immediate problem without adding anything new.