Conquering complexity

Techniques to defeat the biggest problem you have in software development: complexity. Adapted(again) from "Code Complete 2".

• divide the system into subsystems at architecture level so you can focus on a smaller amount at a time
• design class interfaces to ignore inner workings(encapsulation, one of the best tools one can get)
• making a consistent abstraction, so you don't have to remember arbitrary details
• avoid global data because it adds to the amount of code you have to juggle at one time
• avoid deep inheritance. It is intellectually demanding
• avoid deep nesting of loops and conditionals, to avoid killing processor time and gray matter
• avoid gotos - they break the linearity, making code hard to follow
• carefully define your approach to error handling. You will use a proliferation of arbitrary techniques otherwise
• do not allow classes to become monster classes
• keep the routines short
• use clear, self-explanatory variable names
• minimize the number of parameters passed to a routine
• use conventions, to spare your brain the challenge of remembering arbitrary, accidental differences between different sections of code