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  3. Does not Developers get confused if there are too many global variables?

Does not Developers get confused if there are too many global variables?

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  • M Mohammed Hameed

    It has been noticed that some developers heavily use Global variables, may be without any discomfort. Is it like they get accustomed to it and hence use it? Dont they get confused by over usage?

    Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

    A Offline
    A Offline
    AlphaDeltaTheta
    wrote on last edited by
    #13

    When I started learning Java programming in 8th grade, the books only used Global variables, everywhere :doh: even for the loops... That practice continued a long time, unless I learnt what is code! Damn, the books, that teach us wrong concepts in fundamental level

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    • B BobJanova

      Well, hamsters' brains aren't that big ... it's cruel enough making them write JavaScript without expecting good JavaScript.

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      RaisKazi
      wrote on last edited by
      #14

      Agree, have seen this mostly in JavaScript. :laugh: Every developer declaring their on duplicate(purpose) variables and functions to avoid anger of other developers of causing their code to break. :doh:

      Change is a pattern of life.

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      • K Keith Barrow

        Only if you use it.

        “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
        “One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”

        Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)

        OriginalGriffO Offline
        OriginalGriffO Offline
        OriginalGriff
        wrote on last edited by
        #15

        I'm not planning to, but the kind of person who habitually defines everything with var because he's too lazy to think about what his classes should be is just going to love a declaration which turns off compile time checking. He can generate four times as much (completely useless and untested) error and warning free code with dynamic in half the time... :sigh: Then it's someone elses problem to pick up the pieces when it all crashes at run time.

        The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

        "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
        "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

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        • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

          Joe Woodbury wrote:

          Then there's the one person who uses "var" for every definition in their C# code.

          I'm just glad var is shorter and easier to type than dynamic.... :sigh: I'm betting that is going to bite us in a couple of years time.

          The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

          B Offline
          B Offline
          BobJanova
          wrote on last edited by
          #16

          Anyone who declares anything dynamic without a damn good reason should get a slap round the head. It's loose, lazy, unclear and slow. If you know the name of methods that you want to call on an object (which you need to to make dynamic more than just object), you know enough to have it implement an interface and dispatch calls through that.

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          • B BobJanova

            Anyone who declares anything dynamic without a damn good reason should get a slap round the head. It's loose, lazy, unclear and slow. If you know the name of methods that you want to call on an object (which you need to to make dynamic more than just object), you know enough to have it implement an interface and dispatch calls through that.

            OriginalGriffO Offline
            OriginalGriffO Offline
            OriginalGriff
            wrote on last edited by
            #17

            The only part of that about which we disagree is the punishment involved. You prefer "slap"; I prefer "baseball bat". I thought it was stupid when they introduced var, while accepting the need when using LINQ. I have yet to see a convincing argument for the very existence of dynamic (and yes, I do Office interop occasionally, and no, I don't use dynamic for it)

            The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

            "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
            "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

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            • C Chris Maunder

              Mohammed Hameed wrote:

              Is it like they get accustomed to it and hence use it?

              Or they simply don't understand how to write object oriented and/or well architected code.

              cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #18

              This may be a stupid question, but that is the way I learn: Is there an "official" guide to the proper use of global variables, like a Microsoft guidelines document or something?

              Cornelius Henning ---------------------------------------------- "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, President of DEC, World Future Society Convention, 1977

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              • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                I'm not planning to, but the kind of person who habitually defines everything with var because he's too lazy to think about what his classes should be is just going to love a declaration which turns off compile time checking. He can generate four times as much (completely useless and untested) error and warning free code with dynamic in half the time... :sigh: Then it's someone elses problem to pick up the pieces when it all crashes at run time.

                The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

                V Offline
                V Offline
                Vark111
                wrote on last edited by
                #19

                I doubt you'll see a lot of lazy devs overusing dynamic, because it takes away Intellisense, and most of those types rely on Intellisense.

                OriginalGriffO M 2 Replies Last reply
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                • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                  The only part of that about which we disagree is the punishment involved. You prefer "slap"; I prefer "baseball bat". I thought it was stupid when they introduced var, while accepting the need when using LINQ. I have yet to see a convincing argument for the very existence of dynamic (and yes, I do Office interop occasionally, and no, I don't use dynamic for it)

                  The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

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                  Vark111
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #20

                  Quote:

                  I have yet to see a convincing argument for the very existence of dynamic

                  I've used it when dealing heavily with JSON data.

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                  • M Mohammed Hameed

                    It has been noticed that some developers heavily use Global variables, may be without any discomfort. Is it like they get accustomed to it and hence use it? Dont they get confused by over usage?

                    Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

                    V Offline
                    V Offline
                    Valery Possoz
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #21

                    I once worked on a project with over 3000 global variables. The "team leader" did not even know what half of them were suppose to be for... He just use to add new ones!! I let you guess the quality of the project! So yes they get confused... :(

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                    • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                      The only part of that about which we disagree is the punishment involved. You prefer "slap"; I prefer "baseball bat". I thought it was stupid when they introduced var, while accepting the need when using LINQ. I have yet to see a convincing argument for the very existence of dynamic (and yes, I do Office interop occasionally, and no, I don't use dynamic for it)

                      The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

                      R Offline
                      R Offline
                      Rob Philpott
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #22

                      OriginalGriff wrote:

                      The only part of that about which we disagree is the punishment involved.

                      Actually I find it often just best to kill them. Does wonders to calm the nerves.

                      Regards, Rob Philpott.

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                      • L Lost User

                        This may be a stupid question, but that is the way I learn: Is there an "official" guide to the proper use of global variables, like a Microsoft guidelines document or something?

                        Cornelius Henning ---------------------------------------------- "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, President of DEC, World Future Society Convention, 1977

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        CMullikin
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #23

                        You're supposed to try to reduce the number of global variables that you use and only use them when necessary. The second paragraph on Wikipedia[^] gives pretty good reasons for this.

                        The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin

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                        • B BobJanova

                          Well, hamsters' brains aren't that big ... it's cruel enough making them write JavaScript without expecting good JavaScript.

                          C Offline
                          C Offline
                          Chris Maunder
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #24

                          I will put my hand up and say loudly and with some shame: Our Javascript sucks

                          cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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                          • K Keith Barrow

                            I was overused once, it did cause discomfort, but I was never confused!

                            “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
                            “One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”

                            Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)

                            C Offline
                            C Offline
                            Chris Maunder
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #25

                            You lucky, lucky bastard. (bonus points if you name that movie)

                            cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

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                            • V Vark111

                              I doubt you'll see a lot of lazy devs overusing dynamic, because it takes away Intellisense, and most of those types rely on Intellisense.

                              OriginalGriffO Offline
                              OriginalGriffO Offline
                              OriginalGriff
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #26

                              Most of 'em don't bother with AnySense! :laugh:

                              The universe is composed of electrons, neutrons, protons and......morons. (ThePhantomUpvoter)

                              "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                              "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                              1 Reply Last reply
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                              • C Chris Maunder

                                Mohammed Hameed wrote:

                                Is it like they get accustomed to it and hence use it?

                                Or they simply don't understand how to write object oriented and/or well architected code.

                                cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Mohammed Hameed
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #27

                                Thanks Chris. Yes, that would be the case.

                                Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

                                D 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • L Lost User

                                  This may be a stupid question, but that is the way I learn: Is there an "official" guide to the proper use of global variables, like a Microsoft guidelines document or something?

                                  Cornelius Henning ---------------------------------------------- "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home." -- Ken Olson, President of DEC, World Future Society Convention, 1977

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Mohammed Hameed
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #28

                                  There is a nice discussion here on Cunningham's site http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GlobalVariablesAreBad

                                  Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • K Keith Barrow

                                    I was overused once, it did cause discomfort, but I was never confused!

                                    “Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities - that's training or instruction - but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed”
                                    “One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated”

                                    Sir Thomas More (1478 – 1535)

                                    M Offline
                                    M Offline
                                    Mohammed Hameed
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #29

                                    Thanks for your input. So its like discomfort for some and confusion for some developers.

                                    Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • B BobJanova

                                      Global variables are widely recognised to be a Bad Thing and confusing. That's why programming languages have gradually introduced more and more ways of avoiding them: local variables, function parameters, structures (to wrap up multiple parameters where there would be a confusingly large number of them), encapsulation, closures ... I'm sure there are other features that essentially come down to reducing the scope within which a data object is visible to avoid confusion.

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                                      M Offline
                                      Mohammed Hameed
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #30

                                      Thanks Bob. Very good explanation. :thumbsup:

                                      Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • C Chris Maunder

                                        You lucky, lucky bastard. (bonus points if you name that movie)

                                        cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Mohammed Hameed
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #31

                                        Life of Brian.

                                        Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

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                                        • L Lost User

                                          It would depend upon how the variables are named. Names like: jjxl, jixl, picxl, y, x, xy, yx, xxy would be confusing even locally scoped. However, names like: Global_Late_Fee, Global_Post_Date, & WTF_Adjustment aren't confusing.

                                          M Offline
                                          M Offline
                                          Mohammed Hameed
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #32

                                          Yes, prefixing them may reduce much confusion. Thank you.

                                          Understand SOLID! Believe SOLID! Try SOLID; your Code becomes Rock SOLID!!!

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