Tagged Questions
0
votes
4answers
362 views
File exists vs. File does not exist. Is there a difference in performance?
Let's say I am checking a directory for the existence of a file, and then depending on whether or not the file exists, I act accordingly. For example, see the two Python snippets below.
if ...
4
votes
1answer
240 views
If TDD is design, how do you know your TDD is well designed? [duplicate]
Given a large group (50+) of programmers:
All given the same problem,
All using Test-Driven Development (TDD),
All pair programming,
All doing group-based code review,
I have personally seen the ...
0
votes
1answer
283 views
Good fix vs Quick fix [duplicate]
Let's start from this principle: quality is a feature that you can't add to a project in the middle of the development process.
This is the scenario: two weeks to go live with my project and, one of ...
6
votes
5answers
429 views
Why would a developer create a public class that has all static properties?
A previous developer has a couple public classes that do not inherit from any other classes but are filled with static properties. Is this another way of creating a struct or enum? Is this an older or ...
17
votes
4answers
2k views
Why is test driven development missing from Joel's Test?
I was reading this blog by Joel Spolsky about 12 steps to better code. The absence of Test Driven Development really surprised me. So I want to throw the question to the Gurus. Is TDD not really worth ...
3
votes
5answers
1k views
Declaring functions in order to avoid explicit nested loops
My programming professor has told me that it is a good programming practice (at least in C/C++) to declare a function with the inner loop when nesting loops (not for loops, since when, i.e. looping ...
17
votes
5answers
1k views
Descriptive naming vs. 80 character lines [closed]
I frequently hear these two valuable programming practices: (1) lines of code should be 80 characters or less and (2) use descriptive names for variables, methods, classes, etc. I understand the ...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
What is the best approach for inline code comments?
We are doing some refactoring to a 20 years old legacy codebase, and I'm having a discussion with my colleague about the comments format in the code (plsql, java).
There is no a default format for ...
8
votes
7answers
701 views
How to write good code with new stuff? [closed]
I always try to write easily readable code that is well structured.
I face a particular problem when I am messing around with something new. I keep changing the code, structure and so many other ...
26
votes
9answers
2k views
Simple vs Complex (but performance efficient) solution - which one to choose and when?
I have been programming for a couple of years and have often found myself at a dilemma.
There are two solutions -
one is simple one i.e. simple approach, easier to understand and maintain. It ...
11
votes
9answers
903 views
Should a programmer take writing lessons to enhance code expressiveness?
Given that programmers are authors and write code to express abstract thoughts and concepts, and good code should be read by other programmers without difficulties and misunderstandings, should a ...
6
votes
1answer
421 views
What are the practical examples of code exploration techniques?
Code Exploration (CE) is quite a new term and I wonder if there already any successful examples of implementing this techniques in terms of Continuous Integration principles?
In short, Code ...
3
votes
3answers
436 views
Is there a limit on how many global consts are used before an application is considered bad programming?
Basically, I develop websites, some large with many crud operations, etc...
However I've gotten into the habit of storing re-usable data as a constant in my PHP applications
I currently have 44 ...
9
votes
11answers
8k views
Why is using System.out.println() so bad? [closed]
Of course, it is very good use to use a logging framework for the error messages or warnings. But sometimes I use System.out.println() if I want to try something new in a short time.
Is it really so ...
8
votes
7answers
927 views
Entry level engineer question regarding memory management
It has been a few months since I started my position as an entry level software developer. Now that I am past some learning curves (e.g. the language, jargon, syntax of VB and C#) I'm starting to ...
108
votes
20answers
10k views
How would you know if you've written readable and easily maintainable code?
How would one know if the code he has created is easily maintainable and readable? Of course in your point of view (the one who actually wrote the code) your code is readable and maintainable, but we ...
4
votes
3answers
1k views
Should a method do one thing and be good at it? [duplicate]
"Extract Till You Drop" is someting I've read in Uncle Bob's blog, meaning that a method should do one thing alone be good at it.
What is that one thing? When should you stop extracting methods?
...
3
votes
5answers
451 views
What is considered best practice for printing usage / help (--help)?
When writing tools for the CLI of UNIX, how should I make the program print out help and/or usage?
I usually use fprintf(stderr, "help text here");, but there are several issues with that.
First, ...
1
vote
5answers
147 views
Automatic sorting of class/module members and its possible impact on productivity and code quality
Recently I saw some possibilities of some IDEs (via plugins) to sort members of their classes/modules based on some criteria, sou you could have everything sorted automaticaly no matter where you ...
13
votes
12answers
1k views
What to do with a not well organized application? [duplicate]
I'm a newly graduate programmer and just got hired before my graduation. In the office, I used to create and revise modules of some applications developed by other programmers in our company. The ...
41
votes
12answers
4k views
Are there problems with using Reflection?
I don't know why, but I always feel like I am "cheating" when I use reflection - maybe it is because of the performance hit I know I am taking.
Part of me says, if it is part of the language you are ...
16
votes
16answers
2k views
Do Programmers sometimes intentionally over complicate code? [closed]
It seems alot of times on stackoverflow, that people (programmers especially) tend to over complicate a solution to a problem to where the solution is vastly much more complicated then the original ...
29
votes
8answers
3k views
Is there such a thing as having too many private functions/methods?
I understand the importance of well documented code. But I also understand the importance of self-documenting code. The easier it is to visually read a particular function, the faster we can move on ...
21
votes
16answers
3k views
What is the hardest bug to find? [closed]
If possible write how to avoid this kind of bug (besides testing, of course, please write a specific technique)
