Cambridge O Level Computer Science · Syllabus 2210 · Programming
Maintainable Program
What is Maintainable Program?
A program written so that it can be read, understood and safely changed later, through meaningful identifiers, appropriate comments, decomposition into procedures and functions, consistent layout and no unnecessary repeated code.
This definition is part of the Programming chapter in Cambridge O Level Computer Science.
Maintainable Program in context
A maintainable program is one that another programmer — or you, six months later — can read, understand and safely change. The syllabus names the ingredients: meaningful identifiers for variables, constants, arrays, procedures and functions; relevant and appropriate use of the commenting feature provided by the language; and the use of procedures and functions to break the solution into named pieces. Consistent indentation and the removal of unnecessary repeated code follow from those. The syllabus lists it as a learning outcome of its own, 8.1.8, so it is something you can be asked about directly as well as something to practise in every answer you write.