Working on a solo project is easy. Unless you go back to it after some months. Working with many other developers requires some agreements.
TL;DR: Don't be rude. Standardize your code!
-
Maintainability
-
Readability
-
Automate your styles and indentation.
-
Enforce agreed policies.
Correct sample taken from Sandro Mancuso's bank kata
public class MY_Account {
// This class name has a different case and underscores
private Statement privStatement;
// Attributes have visibility prefixes
private Amount currentbalance = amountOf(0);
public SetAccount(Statement statement) {
this.statement = statement;
}
// Setters and getters are not normalized
public GiveAccount(Statement statement)
{ this.statement = statement; }
// Indentation is not uniform
public void deposit(Amount value, Date date) {
recordTransaction(
value, date);
// some variables are named after type and not role.
}
public void extraction(Amount value, Date date) {
recordTransaction(value.negative(), date);
// the opposite of *deposit* should be withdrawal
}
public void voidPrintStatement(PrintStream printer)
{
statement.printToPrinter(printer);
// Name is redundant
}
private void privRecordTransactionAfterEnteredthabalance
(Amount value, Date date) {
Transaction transaction = new Transaction(value, date);
Amount balanceAfterTransaction =
transaction.balanceAfterTransaction(balance);
balance = balanceAfterTransaction;
statement.addANewLineContainingTransation(transaction,
balanceAfterTransaction);
// naming is not uniform
// wrapped lines are not consistent
}
}public class Account {
private Statement statement;
private Amount balance = amountOf(0);
public Account(Statement statement) {
this.statement = statement;
}
public void deposit(Amount value, Date date) {
recordTransaction(value, date);
}
public void withdrawal(Amount value, Date date) {
recordTransaction(value.negative(), date);
}
public void printStatement(PrintStream printer) {
statement.printTo(printer);
}
private void recordTransaction(Amount value, Date date) {
Transaction transaction = new Transaction(value, date);
Amount balanceAfterTransaction =
transaction.balanceAfterTransaction(balance);
balance = balanceAfterTransaction;
statement.addLineContaining(transaction, balanceAfterTransaction);
}
}The Right example has several other smells, but we keep it loyal to its GIT version in order to show only code standardization issues.
Linters and IDEs should test coding standards before a merge request is approved.
We can add our own naming conventions related to Objects, Classes, Interfaces, Modules etc.
- Standardization
Use coding standards in your projects.
A well-written clean code always follows standards about naming conventions, formatting and code style.
Such standards are helpful because they make things clear and deterministic for the ones who read your code, including yourself.
Code styling should be automatic and mandatory on large organizations to enforce Collective Ownership.
Automatic code formatting by a parser or compiler is the way machines gives us feedback on how their interpret our instructions.
It could prevent disagreements and follows fail fast principle.
Code Smell 06 - Too Clever Programmer
Code Smell 98 - Speling Mistakes
What exactly is a name - Part I The Quest
Comic by XKCD
The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.
Andrew S. Tannenbaum
Software Engineering Great Quotes
This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.