What is good code?
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Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)The guy who signs the cheque.
Ideological Purity is no substitute for being able to stick your thumb down a pipe to stop the water
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Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)Slacker007 wrote:
Who determines if your code is good?
Myself, hence my code is bad.
Slacker007 wrote:
What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really?
If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right?There's no precise criteria. It is hard to recognize good code (and it is also matter of personal taste). On the other hand bad code is pretty recognizable at a glance.
Slacker007 wrote:
This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above?
Myself? :-D Great programmers are like great artists. You may say they are great with some confidence. For instance we may argue on a particular Picasso's painting. But no one will doubt about Picasso greatness (well, the dumb will do, but that's a point in favour).
Veni, vidi, vici.
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Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
Slacker007 wrote:
What is good code
Code written by me and no one else, of course. You can have endless discussions, but IMHO good code is code that works (does the required job).
V.
V. wrote:
good code is code that works
I like where you are going with this. One of the reasons why I posted the question. I was up last night thinking about this after reading about someone who thinks they know what good code is.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)I would think that basically if it does what it was designed to do. Like an artist a masterpiece is in the eye of the beholder.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)Slacker007 wrote:
Who determines if your code is good?
First, I do. After 30 years in this business, I know when I've done a good job and when I haven't. Second, I work with a team of other developers on our product. They aren't shy when they find a bug in my stuff. Third, we have a test group. One of them is actually 'embedded' in our department full-time. 'Marcia the Test Terrier' is relentless. Fourth, field service. Our service guys are also not shy about bugs. They also have direct access to our two bug reporting systems (one is for development issues, the other for customer issues). Finally, customers. They've spent from $1.5M to $5M on our product. They have certain... expectations.
Slacker007 wrote:
What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"?
Good code satisfies the customers' needs without undue cost. For the developers on my team, it means they don't have to jump through hoops to interface to my part of the product. For testers, they can perform meaningful, repeatable tests and easily report successes and failures. The service guys want the software to help them diagnose hardware problems (our product is a large printing press) and not get in their way. The customer wants the software to print, and wants to be able to have a lightly-trained monkey able to operate the machine. You can see that these 'customers' all have different needs, some of which conflict with each other.
Slacker007 wrote:
Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really?
See my answer to your first question. There are lots of people to tell me when my code sucks. Relatively little positive feedback comes back. Occasionally Marcia the Test Terrier tells me she likes a new feature. The service guys will also come across with an 'about time you guys did this'. I only talk to customers directly on rare occasions, so I don't hear much from them. Objectively my code is somewhat old-fashioned. While I do tend to implement 'patterns' as defined by the Gang of Four, I'm not as formal about it. I've written code that used those patterns when the book authors were in diapers. Some of my code exhibits anti-pattern or 'code smells' that are presently deprecated. For example, I use underscores in names occasionally. It still works.
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I would think that basically if it does what it was designed to do. Like an artist a masterpiece is in the eye of the beholder.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available.Mike Hankey wrote:
Like an artist a masterpiece is in the eye of the beholder
My problem is that I feel like Michaelangelo when the Pope tells him "But I wanted the ceiling painted blue."
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Mike Hankey wrote:
Like an artist a masterpiece is in the eye of the beholder
My problem is that I feel like Michaelangelo when the Pope tells him "But I wanted the ceiling painted blue."
Software Zen:
delete this;Then it's time to convince the Pope that indeed the ceiling is blue it's just his perception and lack of glasses that make it otherwise.
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. -
Slacker007 wrote:
Who determines if your code is good?
First, I do. After 30 years in this business, I know when I've done a good job and when I haven't. Second, I work with a team of other developers on our product. They aren't shy when they find a bug in my stuff. Third, we have a test group. One of them is actually 'embedded' in our department full-time. 'Marcia the Test Terrier' is relentless. Fourth, field service. Our service guys are also not shy about bugs. They also have direct access to our two bug reporting systems (one is for development issues, the other for customer issues). Finally, customers. They've spent from $1.5M to $5M on our product. They have certain... expectations.
Slacker007 wrote:
What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"?
Good code satisfies the customers' needs without undue cost. For the developers on my team, it means they don't have to jump through hoops to interface to my part of the product. For testers, they can perform meaningful, repeatable tests and easily report successes and failures. The service guys want the software to help them diagnose hardware problems (our product is a large printing press) and not get in their way. The customer wants the software to print, and wants to be able to have a lightly-trained monkey able to operate the machine. You can see that these 'customers' all have different needs, some of which conflict with each other.
Slacker007 wrote:
Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really?
See my answer to your first question. There are lots of people to tell me when my code sucks. Relatively little positive feedback comes back. Occasionally Marcia the Test Terrier tells me she likes a new feature. The service guys will also come across with an 'about time you guys did this'. I only talk to customers directly on rare occasions, so I don't hear much from them. Objectively my code is somewhat old-fashioned. While I do tend to implement 'patterns' as defined by the Gang of Four, I'm not as formal about it. I've written code that used those patterns when the book authors were in diapers. Some of my code exhibits anti-pattern or 'code smells' that are presently deprecated. For example, I use underscores in names occasionally. It still works.
Excellent answer. Monet, Rembrandt? :)
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. -
Excellent answer. Monet, Rembrandt? :)
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available.The more Monet, the better.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
The more Monet, the better.
Software Zen:
delete this;:laugh:
VS2010/Atmel Studio 6.0 ToDo Manager Extension
Version 3.0 now available. -
V. wrote:
good code is code that works
I like where you are going with this. One of the reasons why I posted the question. I was up last night thinking about this after reading about someone who thinks they know what good code is.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)Slacker007 wrote:
someone who thinks they know what good code is
That's the key point. We all think we write good code. I can't imagine any professional programmer that would write bad code on purpose. There are people we use different naming conventions, different patterns or just plain old spaghetti code, but in the end, if the client is happy and the application works, it is not bad code. Could it be better? Probably and mostly, but in the end all these things are the programmers personal opinions. (eg. I can fix bugs in a matter of minutes in my own applications, but if you ask someone else to look at it, even if he knows the code very well, it will take longer, just because my mindset is different)
V.
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Slacker007 wrote:
Who determines if your code is good?
First, I do. After 30 years in this business, I know when I've done a good job and when I haven't. Second, I work with a team of other developers on our product. They aren't shy when they find a bug in my stuff. Third, we have a test group. One of them is actually 'embedded' in our department full-time. 'Marcia the Test Terrier' is relentless. Fourth, field service. Our service guys are also not shy about bugs. They also have direct access to our two bug reporting systems (one is for development issues, the other for customer issues). Finally, customers. They've spent from $1.5M to $5M on our product. They have certain... expectations.
Slacker007 wrote:
What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"?
Good code satisfies the customers' needs without undue cost. For the developers on my team, it means they don't have to jump through hoops to interface to my part of the product. For testers, they can perform meaningful, repeatable tests and easily report successes and failures. The service guys want the software to help them diagnose hardware problems (our product is a large printing press) and not get in their way. The customer wants the software to print, and wants to be able to have a lightly-trained monkey able to operate the machine. You can see that these 'customers' all have different needs, some of which conflict with each other.
Slacker007 wrote:
Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really?
See my answer to your first question. There are lots of people to tell me when my code sucks. Relatively little positive feedback comes back. Occasionally Marcia the Test Terrier tells me she likes a new feature. The service guys will also come across with an 'about time you guys did this'. I only talk to customers directly on rare occasions, so I don't hear much from them. Objectively my code is somewhat old-fashioned. While I do tend to implement 'patterns' as defined by the Gang of Four, I'm not as formal about it. I've written code that used those patterns when the book authors were in diapers. Some of my code exhibits anti-pattern or 'code smells' that are presently deprecated. For example, I use underscores in names occasionally. It still works.
Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
I've written code that used those patterns when the book authors were in diapers
Congratulations, you're keeping well. Both Erich and John Matthew was born in 61' and I guess Ralph and Richard were born at about the same time - give or take a few years. ;)
Espen Harlinn Principal Architect, Software - Goodtech Projects & Services AS My LinkedIn Profile
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
I've written code that used those patterns when the book authors were in diapers
Congratulations, you're keeping well. Both Erich and John Matthew was born in 61' and I guess Ralph and Richard were born at about the same time - give or take a few years. ;)
Espen Harlinn Principal Architect, Software - Goodtech Projects & Services AS My LinkedIn Profile
Why worry about factual accuracy when you've got a perfectly good hyperbole going? :-D I was born in '61, BTW :doh:.
Software Zen:
delete this; -
Who determines if your code is good? What is good code and what are the precise criteria for giving it a status of "good"? Since most of your code will never be reviewed by your peers (outside of work) then how do you know it is worth a damn, really? If I think your code sucks but the next guy thinks it is good, then who is right? This kind of goes in line with my other thoughts about the "greatness" of an individual programmer. Who determines that a person is a great programmer and that person writes some damn good code? You? Me? None of the above? We obviously cannot make this determination about ourselves or our code. So who does?
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)If the code works as designed, it's good.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
Why worry about factual accuracy when you've got a perfectly good hyperbole going? :-D I was born in '61, BTW :doh:.
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
Why worry about factual accuracy when you've got a perfectly good hyperbole going? :-D
It was kind of begging for a rejoinder though :laugh:
Gary R. Wheeler wrote:
I was born in '61, BTW :doh:.
Then you ARE really keeping well ;)
Espen Harlinn Principal Architect, Software - Goodtech Projects & Services AS My LinkedIn Profile
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If the code works as designed, it's good.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997I agree.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012)
