[TUHS] Discuss of style and design of computer programs from a user stand point

[dave@horsfall.org (Dave Horsfall)]

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."