# Programming Priorities

DevFeed: [Programming Priorities](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/programming-priorities-38390.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://blog.danlew.net/2025/03/11/programming-priorities/>)

Author: Dan Lew

Published: 2025-03-11T14:00:44Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Dan Lew Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dan-lew-blog.md>)

Topics: [Maintainability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/maintainability.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/development.md>), [Software Engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/software-engineering.md>), [Refactoring](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/refactoring.md>), [Optimization](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/optimization.md>)

Tags: [automated](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/automated.md>), [code](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code.md>), [code-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/code-design.md>), [coupling](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/coupling.md>), [decoupling](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/decoupling.md>), [development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/development.md>), [maintainability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/maintainability.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [readability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/readability.md>), [software](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software.md>), [software-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/software-development.md>), [tests](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tests.md>)

## AI overview

This article presents a priority order for code design: functionality first, maintainability second, and other concerns afterward. It argues that maintainable code reduces the time and risk involved in future changes, allowing later refactoring and optimization. Suggested practices include automated tests, good architecture, decoupling, encapsulation, readable code, and useful comments.

## Source excerpt

Software development (or, you know, life in general) is all about juggling priorities. For this post, I'm thinking specifically about code design priorities. You only have a limited amount of time to implement a feature, so you have to pick and choose which aspects of it to spend