[TUHS] Discuss of style and design of computer programs from a user stand point
Dave Horsfall
dave at horsfall.org
Sun May 7 04:43:33 AEST 2017
On Sat, 6 May 2017, Larry McVoy wrote:
> When I run engineering teams the point I make is if you wrote the code
> more than 6 months ago it might as well be someone else's code. So
> write it in a way that someone else can debug / extend it.
A principle I've tried to follow over the years is "write code as though
the next person to maintain it is an axe-wielding murderer who knows where
you live".
> I also made the point that "clever" sucks. At least most of the time.
> All "clever" means is "hard to understand". The brief joy one gets from
> clever code is stomped on by the frustration one gets from having to fix
> it.
Apropos the above, I do confess to writing "clever code" from time to time
(PERL is a beautiful language for such sins)...
Of course, in the olden days it was the APL "one-liners" :-)
--
Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will suffer."
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