Slashdot Mirror
Any "Pretty" Code Out There?
andhow writes "Practically any time I hear a large software system discussed I hear "X is a #%@!in mess," or "Y is unmanageable and really should be rewritten." Some of this I know is just fresh programmers seeing their first big hunk o' code and having the natural reaction. In other cases I've heard it from main developers, so I'll take their word for it. Over time, it paints a bleak picture, and I'd be really like to know of a counterexample. Getting to know a piece of software well enough to ascertain its quality takes a long time, so I submit to the experience of the readership: what projects have you worked on which you felt had admirable code, both high-level architecture and in-the-trenches implementation? In particular I am interested in large user applications using modern C++ libraries and techniques like exception handling and RAII."
Just kidding :))
BoD
I can almost hear the FOSS trolls approach...
-1 not first post
Hello World!!!
A Good Troll is better than a Bad Human.
"Practically any time I hear a large software system discussed I hear "X is a #%@!in mess,"
I get that with reading the next line you get the context, but was I the only one taken aback at this seemingly blatant flame of our beloved X?
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
public interface MessageStrategy {
public void sendMessage();
}
public abstract class AbstractStrategyFactory {
public abstract MessageStrategy createStrategy(MessageBody mb);
}
public class MessageBody {
Object payload;
public Object getPayload() { return payload; }
public void configure(Object obj) { payload = obj; }
public void send(MessageStrategy ms) {
ms.sendMessage();
}
}
public class DefaultFactory extends AbstractStrategyFactory {
private DefaultFactory() {}
static DefaultFactory instance;
public static AbstractStrategyFactory getInstance() {
if (null==instance) instance = new DefaultFactory();
return instance;
}
public MessageStrategy createStrategy(final MessageBody mb) {
return new MessageStrategy() {
MessageBody body = mb;
public void sendMessage() {
Object obj = body.getPayload();
System.out.println(obj.toString());
}
};
}
}
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
MessageBody mb = new MessageBody();
mb.configure("Hello World!");
AbstractStrategyFactory asf = DefaultFactory.getInstance();
MessageStrategy strategy = asf.createStrategy(mb);
mb.send(strategy);
}
}
The more GOTOs the better!
Creationists are a lot like zombies. Slow, but powerful and numerous. And they all want to eat our brains.
Ooops, I almost forgot:
/*
Hello World
Copyright 2002 MillionthMonkey
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
*/
You're welcome, "World"!
You're wearing asbestos-everything, right?
So cruftiness is a linear function man-months?
"X is a #%@!in mess," or "Y is unmanageable and really should be rewritten."
I see those all the time as comments in my own code.
I'm pretty sure that by posting perl code any claim of legibility is out the window. ;)
ROMANES EUNT DOMUS
"only a smell in my opinion if they are hard to read"
A friend of mine used to say: "Source code is like shit, it stinks when it's not yours."
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Here is a little teaser though
If you are about to mod me down, keep in mind that this post was most likely sarcastic.
Cruftiness is the quality of having cruft. Cruft is the stuff that accumulates on code over time. Cruft has no odor, but it stinks. Cruft has no mass, but it weighs the code down. Cruft can't be seen, but it's ugly. Cruft cannot be young, it's always old. Cruft can't be deliberately added, it only appears when you're not looking. Cruft can't be explained to managers, except through awkward car analogies. They still won't get it because managers drive well-maintained elegant foreign cars like BMW's, which gather no cruft. Programmers understand, because their Fords and Chevys are practically built of cruft. Harley motorcycles should have cruft, but noise dissipates cruft. Cruft is mysterious.
Cruft is never present on code which hasn't had enough work. Cruft only appears on code which has been worked too long, by too many people.
No weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men.-Ronald Reagan