Marie Kondo It
You know what kind of code has zero bugs? The kind you didn’t write. You might have less features, but I assure you there are no unhandled exceptions or edge cases in code that doesn’t exist. Less code equals fewer interfaces, fewer special cases, fewer leaky abstractions, and fewer hidden bugs.
But you can’t just remove things that don’t spark joy. Some things are simply necessary, not joyful. But you do want to remove things that diminish joy. Tha 3000 line file full of utility functions. All the places where you have custom code for the same purpose that almost match each other. Things that are almost done.
The KonMarie approach has 6 rules, and while written for tidying physical spaces, you can apply the same ideas to software as well.
Commit yourself to tidying up. Whether you call it tech debt, cruft, or code smell, start by recognizing that things could be better and allocate time to making it happen. It could be an ongoing percentage of your sprint budget, a dedicated sprint (or more), or maybe a specific story in your backlog
Imagine your ideal lifestyle. As with any journey, you need to know where you’re going or you’ll never get there. It could be a grand vision for an entire platform, or just removing the dread of going into a small area of the codebase
Finish discarding first. Start by removing the things that aren’t used. All the commented out code. The left-over helper functions. Unused levels of abstraction. The extra headers/imports. Then land the change. You’re not finished discarding until the change is part of the codebase.
Tidy by category, not by location. Once you’ve gotten down to what you need, gather like things together. Call it Single Responsibility, containerizing, lumping, or domain driven design, it’s about abstractions, mental models, and reduced cognitive load.
Follow the right order. Start with the easy things. Dedup pure duplication. Extract those couple of methods in a library that should be in their own library into one. Make the next step easier. Land each fix along the way. Provide incremental value and cleanliness along the way. Reward yourself and the team with the improvements.
Ask yourself if it sparks joy. As you go a-tidying, go in the direction that seems cleaner, not just to yourself, but to your customers and users. Because we all want to share the joy.
