I was doing a code review recently, and I saw something like this: public class SomeService { public void Update(Customer customer) { //Do update stuff } public void Delete(int customerId) { //Do delete stuff } } What would you say if you saw code like this? Do you see any problem in the vein of…
Do you ever open a source code file and see a method that starts at the top of your screen and kind of oozes its way to the bottom with no end in sight? When you find yourself in that situation, imagine that you’re reading a ticker tape and try to guess at where the…
I’m aware that recently there’s been some brouhaha over criticism/trashing of open-source code and the Software Craftsmanship movement, and I’d like to continue my longstanding tradition of learning what I can from things without involving myself in any drama. Toward that end, I’d like to critique without criticizing, or, to put it another way, I’d…
Switch statements are often (and rightfully, in my opinion) considered to be a code smell. A code smell, if you’ll recall, is a superficial characteristic of code that is often indicative of deeper problems. It’s similar in concept to the term “red flag” for interpersonal relationships. A code smell is like someone you’ve just met…
Oracles In Math When I was a freshman in college, I took a class called “Great Theoretical Ideas In Computer Science”, taught by Professor Steven Rudich. It was in this class that I began to understand how fundamentally interwoven math and computer science are and to think of programming as a logical extension of math….
