In this post, I want to talk a bit about productivity, safety, and scalability, and also about structure. A good folder structure helps guarantee all of that in your code.
My goal is to make you leave here thinking:
“From today on, I will help my team standardize a good folder and file structure.”
Code is read far more than it is written
A good standard makes this possible: someone looks at the project and immediately understands where everything is, without asking anyone.
The structure becomes a mental map, where following that path guarantees you’ll find the information you need.
Navigation becomes automatic:
“Okay, I need to go here, access this, enter that folder, click here — done.”
Without a standard, you waste time looking for files:
“Hmm, I need to go here… but now what? Maybe I should ask someone… oh, they’re in a meeting. I’ll have to wait.”
And many times, the company itself becomes hostage to the people who know where everything is.
Reduces errors (especially in large projects)
Without standards, things like this start to appear:
userService, User_service, serviceUser, or even utils, helpers, common, misc — all meaning roughly the same thing.
The result:
- duplicated logic
- wrong files being imported
- “mysterious” bugs that exist only because someone got lost
A standard prevents errors before they even exist.
Makes maintenance and refactoring easier
When folders follow a clear rule (by layer, by domain, or by feature):
- you know where to make changes
- you know what might break
- refactoring stops being a risk and becomes a task
Without a standard, changing code feels like this:
“I’ll touch this and hope nothing breaks.”
Helps the team (and your reputation)
This is important for your career.
A well-structured project sends a clear message:
- “This person thinks before writing code”
- “This code is maintainable”
- “This isn’t hidden chaos that only the author understands”
Leaders trust people who deliver organized code.
Even if no one praises it, everyone notices.
Scales the project — and scales you
Small projects can “tolerate” mess.
Real projects can’t.
If you’re just starting an app, you don’t need to obsess over patterns — just write code.
But once your app has a solid user base, you must start standardizing things.
Here’s a tip:
If your company struggles with this and you want to grow there — or move to a bigger company — standards stop being optional.
A standard is not rigidity, it’s an agreement
This isn’t about the perfect standard.
It’s about having a standard and following it.
It can vary from company to company — and still work very well.
An average standard + consistency
is infinitely better than a brilliant standard that no one follows.
That’s it, folks. It’s not much, but it’s honest 😂
Standardizing names and folders reduces time, errors, and maintenance costs, while allowing the project to grow without becoming technical debt.
And remember:
it doesn’t matter which standard you use — what matters is following one.
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