--- title: I stopped destructuring everything | daily.dev description: A developer reflects on moving away from reflexive destructuring in JavaScript. The core argument: destructuring optimizes for writing code, not reading it.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-destructuring-everything-ypudp5g2i twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I stopped destructuring everything | daily.dev og:description: A developer reflects on moving away from reflexive destructuring in JavaScript. The core argument: destructuring optimizes for writing code, not reading it.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-destructuring-everything-ypudp5g2i og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ypudP5g2I.png og:image:alt: I stopped destructuring everything og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I stopped destructuring everything **[Matt Smith](https://daily.dev/sources/allthingssmitty)** · 4 min read · 148 upvotes · 16 comments ## Summary A developer reflects on moving away from reflexive destructuring in JavaScript. The core argument: destructuring optimizes for writing code, not reading it. Keeping objects intact (e.g., `project.status` instead of `status`) preserves context, especially in larger functions where variables lose their origin. The author still uses destructuring when it genuinely improves vocabulary or removes noise, but now asks whether removing the object makes code easier to understand or just shorter. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@h2onock** · 10 upvotes > I totally agree with this. Especially in the new world of AI writing the code, it’s sometimes hard to parse when checking what has been written if it’s been destructured far away from where you are currently reading. Nice article! **@devmount** · 7 upvotes > I love this. Not especially for the destructuring part, but for **reflecting on own behavior and past decisions**! The last sentence/question is gold. Actually you can insert anything there: > > Does [_action_] actually make the code easier to understand, or does it just [_make it shorter_ | _follow a hype_ | _satisfy a convention_ | ...]. > > It is good to regularly engage in constructive self-reflection. **@confidentcoding** · 5 upvotes > For me it's a bit of a numbers game; if I have an extensive amount of variables having the repetition of the originating property starts to make it difficult for me to digest at a glance. But if it's just a handful of properties, I have no problem passing in the original object name. > > I do like the splitting of the difference and deciding to destructure later, since it is always something you can opt into... **@borishrimov** · 2 upvotes > I believe it's a preference thing. For me, dot notation bloats the code, making it harder to read, while destructuring gives a clean variable to use and reuse later in the code. Also, the part about "larger functions" with hundreds of LOC is a bit controversial - if you have such a large function that you lose context of variables while reading it, it's no longer a destructuring issue) > Good job on reflecting on your code though - that's a sign of a good dev! **@radmilomarkovic** · 2 upvotes > Not many people care about readability lately. In the world of ai as long as it works does not matters how difficult is to read. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [JavaScript for Everyone: Destructuring](https://daily.dev/posts/javascript-for-everyone-destructuring-f7mq0z8t0) · CSS-Tricks · 18 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#javascript](https://daily.dev/tags/javascript), [#react](https://daily.dev/tags/react) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-destructuring-everything-ypudp5g2i) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I stopped destructuring everything","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-destructuring-everything-ypudp5g2i","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-stopped-destructuring-everything-ypudp5g2i"},"datePublished":"2026-07-13T10:37:53.144Z","dateModified":"2026-07-13T22:17:30.382Z","description":"A developer reflects on moving away from reflexive destructuring in JavaScript. 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Especially in the new world of AI writing the code, it’s sometimes hard to parse when checking what has been written if it’s been destructured far away from where you are currently reading. Nice article!","datePublished":"2026-07-13T13:11:46.587Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ypudP5g2I#c-L1B20lieB","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"James","url":"https://daily.dev/h2onock","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/9485980?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":10}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I love this. Not especially for the destructuring part, but for reflecting on own behavior and past decisions! The last sentence/question is gold. Actually you can insert anything there:\nDoes [action] actually make the code easier to understand, or does it just [make it shorter | follow a hype | satisfy a convention | …].\nIt is good to regularly engage in constructive self-reflection.","datePublished":"2026-07-13T16:16:19.607Z","dateModified":"2026-07-13T16:17:36.232Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ypudP5g2I#c-N0YLpymg7","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andreas","url":"https://daily.dev/devmount","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--0yHQgkD3--/f_auto/v1730121566/avatars/avatar_wkPuMtV83z5WseTrVc5QU"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":7}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"For me it’s a bit of a numbers game; if I have an extensive amount of variables having the repetition of the originating property starts to make it difficult for me to digest at a glance. But if it’s just a handful of properties, I have no problem passing in the original object name.\nI do like the splitting of the difference and deciding to destructure later, since it is always something you can opt into…","datePublished":"2026-07-13T13:50:59.144Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ypudP5g2I#c-VjA4MX7oF","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Lars Faye | Confident Coding","url":"https://daily.dev/confidentcoding","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--OGZu5DEc--/f_auto/v1772569630/avatars/avatar_umWZ9aQAng34qk5aaJl2q?_a=BAMAMiiu0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":5}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"I believe it’s a preference thing. For me, dot notation bloats the code, making it harder to read, while destructuring gives a clean variable to use and reuse later in the code. Also, the part about “larger functions” with hundreds of LOC is a bit controversial - if you have such a large function that you lose context of variables while reading it, it’s no longer a destructuring issue)\nGood job on reflecting on your code though - that’s a sign of a good dev!","datePublished":"2026-07-14T06:47:08.731Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ypudP5g2I#c-OSSjIs8E2","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Boris Hrimov","url":"https://daily.dev/borishrimov","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocIOODsobFuMeNB0dxlWnreK_S_m3_O87n4VJ5Bi1eQ6NVPap-Gn=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Not many people care about readability lately. In the world of ai as long as it works does not matters how difficult is to read.","datePublished":"2026-07-13T21:18:01.802Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ypudP5g2I#c-1oKbZ42aA","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Radmilo Markovic","url":"https://daily.dev/radmilomarkovic","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--gblKAFwc--/f_auto/v1774901807/avatars/avatar_pw9CkxZCzHWQjy1MHbhtO?_a=BAMAMiWQ0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}]} ```