Why 100 lines of code is sometimes better than 2 lines of code

Debjit Biswas — Sun, 04 May 2025 07:49:42 +0000

In the world of programming, there's often a race to write the most "concise" or "clever" code. But sometimes, trying to squeeze logic into as few lines as possible can actually hurt more than help.

Let's talk about why writing 100 lines of clean, readable code is often better than a 2-liner magic trick, with real-world examples to back it up.

Myth: Less code > More code

**
It's tempting to think:

"If I can do this in 2 lines, why write 100?"

But here’s the truth:

Short code is not always readable
It’s harder to debug
It's often less maintainable
It usually lacks context, error-handling, and clarity

Let’s look at some real-life analogies and coding scenarios to understand this better.

Let's give some data:

You can code minesweeper with less than 100 lines of code.

To code Windows 10, you need over a million.

The amount of lines has absolutely nothing to do with how good your product is.

The three pillars of coding: Speed, Space, Length.

The best you can get is two out of three.

payment_gateway.charge(card, amount)

Would you trust this line of code for your lakhs and crores of transaction.

import razorpay

# Initialize the Razorpay client with your key ID and secret
client = razorpay.Client(auth=("YOUR_KEY_ID", "YOUR_KEY_SECRET"))

# Create an order
data = {
    "amount": 50000,  # Amount in paise (e.g., 50000 paise = ₹500)
    "currency": "INR",
    "receipt": "order_rcptid_11"
}
order = client.order.create(data=data)
print("Order created:", order)

# In a real application, you would typically store the order ID in your database
order_id = order['id']

# Example of capturing a payment (this would be done after the customer has authorized the payment)
payment_id = "YOUR_PAYMENT_ID" # Payment ID obtained after successful payment
try:
    client.payment.capture(payment_id, {"amount": 50000, "currency": "INR"})
    print("Payment captured successfully")
except Exception as e:
    print("Error capturing payment:", e)

# Example of checking payment status
try:
    payment = client.payment.fetch(payment_id)
    print("Payment details:", payment)
    if payment['status'] == 'captured':
        print("Payment was successful")
    else:
        print("Payment failed or is pending")
except Exception as e:
    print("Error fetching payment:", e)

I would rather trust this piece of code for even my 200 Rupees payment.

💡 Real-Life Analogy: Fast Food vs. Home-Cooked Meal

🍔 A burger from a fast-food joint is quick and compact (like 2 lines of code).
🥘 A home-cooked meal takes time, but it’s healthier, customized, and you know what’s inside (like 100 lines of readable, maintainable code).

Conclusion

Absolutely. What matters is you have the right amount of code to solve your problem.

"Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler."

Forem: Debjit Biswas

Why 100 lines of code is sometimes better than 2 lines of code

Myth: Less code > More code

Conclusion