Long ago, I read an article by Jeff Vogel - “Six ways to write more comprehensible code”, for sure, someone is familiar with it. She had a very big effect on me, in a sense she opened her eyes and helped make my code better.

The following tips are described in detail in the article with examples:

1. Be prudent - write comments.
2. Use the #define operator more often. AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE.
3. Do not give the variables names that could be misleading.
4. Check your program for errors. You make mistakes. Yes, yes, it’s you.
5. “Premature optimization is the root of all evil,” - Donald Knuth.
6. Do not be smart.

original www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-clear-code/index.html
translation www.ibm.com/developerworks/ru/library/l-clear-code/index.html