I love deleting code

Yesterday I read a tweet saying "the next best thing after writing code is deletig code". My response was fast, saying "personally i like deleting code more. ;)". Let me elaborate on that!

Deleting code means that you either:

• found a better way to do something
• found unneeded abstractions
  
• found unneeded functionality

So, deleting code (at least when it's done on purpose ;)) is always done because you don't need it. Taking away code that you don't need is great, because the less code you have, the less can go wrong, and after the code is removed there is less to test and less to maintain.

Therefore, always strive to have as little code as possible doing the job. As they say in Extreme Programming, "Pay as you go: Build just enough to meet today's requirements".

You could get sad when removing code because it means that you or someone else have done something that could be considered a waste. Well, sometimes it was a waste but it won't be less a waste because you keep it. Most times the code you're about to delete served a purpose though, leading you to find the better solution.

So summing it up; Don't be sad about deleting code, love it like I do!