Principles of Good Design

Good design is an important aspect of programming and product development in general. In computer science, good design is what differentiates between a program that works and a program that works well. Good design is key aspect for a program to be portable, scalable, and reusable. Good design includes, but is not limited to, a program that has a fast run-time, is modularized for easy debugging, robust, consistent, and not repetitive in code.

• Lecture (Part 0)

  • Watch on Youtube
  • Watch on the CS50 Video Player
  • Download Lecture
  • Lecture Notes

• Lecture (Part 1)

  • Watch on Youtube
  • Watch on the CS50 Video Player
  • Download Lecture
  • Lecture Notes

• Lecture (Part 2)

  • Watch on Youtube
  • Watch on the CS50 Video Player
  • Download Lecture
  • Lecture Notes

• Notes

  • Principles of Good Design

• Supplementary Resources

  • Avilay Parekh on What is Good Software Design?
  • Wells Riley on Startups, This is How Design Works
  • Andrej Bauer on Programming Language Design
  • Stack Overflow discussion on What does a good programmer’s code look like?

• Thought Questions

  • In more general terms, what is good design?
  • Can you compare two products where one has better design than the other (such as a Samsung phone and an iPhone)?
  • Why is good design important? Why is it important in programs as well as physical objects?
  • How can design be evaluated? What tests or parameters are helpful for doing so?
  • What design choices do you make every day?