The rules and principles I try to follow

gistfile1.txt

* Keep methods rediculously short
* Methods should do 1 thing
* Be idempotent when at all possible
* Leave objects open to extension, but closed to modification
* Don't modify objects unless constrained by memory operations
* Wrap Network and Disk and Database calls with encapsulation

* Dont mock what you dont own
* Write real unit tests, test inside the boundaries
* Write common path itegration tests, test the boundaries themselves


* Prefer Objects to Methods
* Prefer Functions to Methods
* Prefer stateless Modules to Classes
* Prefer stand alone modules to mix-ins
* Prefer explicitness to implicitness