JavaScript

No More Guesswork: Make Your JavaScript Code Self-Explanatory

Thursday October 9, 2025

When you’re learning JavaScript, or any language for that matter, one thing becomes quickly obvious: understanding code you wrote just days ago is a challenge.

Reading your code is hard, let alone trying to read someone else’s.

That’s where self-explanatory code is useful. It’s a practice—a way of writing code that’s easy to read, easy to follow, and, ideally, doesn’t need comments to make sense.

What is the real meaning of “self-explanatory”?

It means that the code explains itself—through good naming, clear structure, and logical flow.

A self-explanatory function does what its name says. A variable holds exactly what its name suggests. Anyone—especially another developer or even you in some point in the future—should be able to scan it and instantly grasp what’s happening.

Take this for example:

You can’t easily grasp what is happening here.
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Now compare it to:

Here, you can easily get what the function does.
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The second version tells a small story. Even without comments, you can guess what’s going on. That’s the essence of self-explanatory code.

Why does it matter?

It matters because clean code saves time and reduces bugs. The thing is that nobody wants to dig through cryptic logic at 2am. And in teams, code that explains itself is an implied agreement.

The goal is not just writing less code but writing better code.

How do you write code that explains itself?

Here are a few habits that help:

  • Name things clearly – Functions, variables, files, everything.

Bad:

You have to think hard to guess what is going on here!
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Good:

Here, code tells you exactly what variables and parameters are about. No need for guessing. It reads like a sentence.
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  • Keep functions focused – Do one thing well.

Bad:

Here, the function does too many things.
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Good:

Each function now does one thing. It’s easier to test, reuse, and understand.
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  • Avoid clever tricks – Being clever isn’t always funny.

Bad:

This code is minimal but not efficient, since it requires significal mental effort.
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Good:

The improved version breaks it down and adds meaning.
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  • Structure logically – Let your code read top-to-bottom like a story.

Bad:

In this code, you have to “decode” the order of operations.
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Good:

Now the code flows like a logical sequence: check, calculate, apply, send.
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In short, write code for humans, not just computers.

Wrapping up

Writing self-explanatory code will make you both a better and more thoughtful developer.

The goal isn’t perfection but clarity. In JavaScript, where there’s much freedom but also many dangers, being clear is essential.

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