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  3. What are the worst programming habits?

What are the worst programming habits?

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  • D dan sh

    Use of var is justifiable? In my useless opinion, var is useless in .Net framework World.

    My CP workspace: Incredibly trivial and probably useless code samples[^]

    OriginalGriffO Offline
    OriginalGriffO Offline
    OriginalGriff
    wrote on last edited by
    #33

    var is handy in two places: 1) When using Linq and returning "An IEnumerable of something, gawddammit, but I have no idea what the compiler is going to call it" 2) To identify people whose code you can't trust because they have no idea or no interest in what type a variable should be. It may save five keystrokes to use var instead of IEnumerable<Customer> but it doesn't help understanding when you have to read the code later.

    Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

    "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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    • D dan sh

      Intellisense does help. For reading, indentation is something I would prefer. It is opinion. I think MS wants to divide and rule. When did Britishers took over MS? *Last 2 sentences are supposed to be humor.

      My CP workspace: Incredibly trivial and probably useless code samples[^]

      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriffO Offline
      OriginalGriff
      wrote on last edited by
      #34

      d@nish wrote:

      When did Britishers took over MS?

      We didn't. If we had, the Color class would be spelled properly!

      Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

      "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

        var is handy in two places: 1) When using Linq and returning "An IEnumerable of something, gawddammit, but I have no idea what the compiler is going to call it" 2) To identify people whose code you can't trust because they have no idea or no interest in what type a variable should be. It may save five keystrokes to use var instead of IEnumerable<Customer> but it doesn't help understanding when you have to read the code later.

        Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

        D Offline
        D Offline
        dan sh
        wrote on last edited by
        #35

        OriginalGriff wrote:

        To identify people whose code you can't trust

        :thumbsup:

        My CP workspace: Incredibly trivial and probably useless code samples[^]

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        • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

          d@nish wrote:

          When did Britishers took over MS?

          We didn't. If we had, the Color class would be spelled properly!

          Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

          D Offline
          D Offline
          dan sh
          wrote on last edited by
          #36

          Wait, that explains it. Those who have trouble typing a "u", can not type IEnumerable< Whatever the hell it is >. I now know the whole purpose of var. Enlightened.

          My CP workspace: Incredibly trivial and probably useless code samples[^]

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          • L Lost User

            PIEBALDconsult wrote:

            the developer's intent should be clearly specified.

            It IS clearly specified if it is omitted. It is not some arcane trick, it is not something that causes side-effects, and it improves readability. It is as usefull as typing "begin" and "end" instead of the default scope-blocks. It might take some getting used to, but it conveys the same amount of information using less symbols. That's kinda essential, and the reason why we are not programming in COBOL.

            PIEBALDconsult wrote:

            I don't want to have to guess

            If you have to guess at the default access modifier in C#, you should not be writing in C#.

            PIEBALDconsult wrote:

            and decrease the hit to your own productivity caused by your juniors.

            Should I prefix each class with a complete namespace? Otherwise they'd be guessing at which class it will take :D You explain a junior ONCE that everything that does not have a modifier is private. If they come asking, even once, then make them prefix everything. Using "this" and "that", using namespaces, using "global::". Throw in some hungarian systems, so they won't have to guess the type :suss:

            Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

            P Offline
            P Offline
            PIEBALDconsult
            wrote on last edited by
            #37

            Eddy Vluggen wrote:

            explain a junior ONCE

            That's once too many.

            You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.

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            • L Lost User

              Eddy Vluggen wrote:

              Should I prefix each class with a complete namespace? Otherwise they'd be guessing at which class it will take

              You've done it now :-D

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #38

              Adding oil to the fire, a practical example;

              using System;
              using System.Threading;
              using System.Windows.Forms;
              using System.Timers;

              namespace ConsoleApplication5
              {
              class Program
              {
              Timer t = new System.Threading.Timer(null); // will not compile, as it is unclear which Timer
              Timer t2 = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer(); // is declared (as opposed to the type instantiated)
              Timer pfld_SysTimrTimrt3 = new System.Timers.Timer(); // using hungarian systems with namespace prefix

                  static void Main(global::System.String\[\]\[\] strSrgs)
                  {
                      global::System.Console.ReadLine();
                  }
              }
              

              }

              And yes, the "console application template" has an entry point which is implicitly private.

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

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              • D Dave Kreskowiak

                I gotta call foul on removing the private access specifier. In C# the default is private while in VB it's Public. I absolutely hate that and really dont want to have to remember what the defaults ars supposed to be when scanning over code for problems.

                A guide to posting questions on CodeProject

                How to debug small programs
                Dave Kreskowiak

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #39

                Dave Kreskowiak wrote:

                In C# the default is private while in VB it's Public. I absolutely hate that and really dont want to have to remember what the defaults ars supposed to be when scanning over code for problems.

                I hate that it's public in VB.NET too, but it does not change the way I look at C#. Having tried it, for several months, in both languages, to me, the benefit outweighs the possible disadvantage of confusion.

                Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

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                • P PIEBALDconsult

                  Gary Wheeler wrote:

                  Hungarian notation should die in a fire

                  That's too good for it. However, have you read this: Making Wrong Code Look Wrong by Joel Spolsky[^]

                  You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.

                  G Offline
                  G Offline
                  Gary Wheeler
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #40

                  Hmm. I agree with Joel but I stand by my dislike of the common Hungarian notation, despite Simonyi's original intent.

                  Software Zen: delete this;

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                  • C Chris Maunder

                    I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                    1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                    2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                    3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                    4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                    5. Magic numbers

                    I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                    cheers Chris Maunder

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #41

                    Comments like this: i=6; //set i to six :)

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                    • C Chris Maunder

                      I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                      1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                      2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                      3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                      4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                      5. Magic numbers

                      I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                      cheers Chris Maunder

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      Simon_Whale
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #42

                      My main bug bears are 1. Excessive whitespace between code lines 2. In code comment,for that complex method that are so short they are as useful as the var keyword.

                      Every day, thousands of innocent plants are killed by vegetarians. Help end the violence EAT BACON

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                      • C Chris Maunder

                        I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                        1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                        2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                        3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                        4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                        5. Magic numbers

                        I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                        cheers Chris Maunder

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        Chris Losinger
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #43

                        1. incorrect bracket placement 2. if (2 == var) 3. not enough whitespace 4. globals

                        image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                        • L Lost User

                          If you need comments to explain what the code does, then the code is too complex. Formatting is a matter of taste, and there's a keyboard shortcut to automatically reformat in the VS-IDE. My worst programming habits;

                          1. Removing the access modifier "private" from code, as it is redundant. Not a bad habit in my book, but apparently in everyone else's.
                          2. Hitting F5 too regularly. Kills productivity if it takes 15 minutes to build.
                          3. Reading CodeProject while building a solution. I cannot stare at the build-screen, especially since it does not provide adequate feedback on what it is doing. If it appears to be waiting for a long time then chances are that it gets killed using the task-manager.
                          4. Coffee. With two suger, and two cups an hour, that adds to 32 lumps of suger.

                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

                          C Offline
                          C Offline
                          Chris Losinger
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #44

                          Eddy Vluggen wrote:

                          there's a keyboard shortcut to automatically reformat in the VS-IDE.

                          which is a total broken disaster in VS2013 (for C++ at least)

                          image processing toolkits | batch image processing

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                          • C Chris Maunder

                            I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                            1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                            2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                            3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                            4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                            5. Magic numbers

                            I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                            cheers Chris Maunder

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            David ONeil
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #45

                            Currently dealing with a codebase that uses magic numbers and tucks them into the window's hMenu member (and uses them from there)! Ghhgh! The other nightmare offense in the code is using "m_" for: a) Some, but not all, member variables. b) Some, but not all, in function variables, including loop indexes. c) Some, but not all, passed function parameters. That was fun to get sorted - NOT. There were even a couple places where the same name was used in two or more different ways, so a project-wide replace would blow up. X| X| X| X| X|

                            My website :: My book revealing the forgotten astronomy of our ancestors.

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                            • J JMK NI

                              I disagree, in a situation like:

                              CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException exception = new CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException();

                              I find this more readable:

                              var exception = new CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException();

                              Typing CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException twice in such a short space I think is a bit redundant

                              F Offline
                              F Offline
                              Forogar
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #46

                              It's a pity that we can't use a condensed "new" format like:

                              CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException exception = new ();

                              which means the same as:

                              CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException exception = new CryptographicUnexpectedOperationException();

                              - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

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                              • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                                var is handy in two places: 1) When using Linq and returning "An IEnumerable of something, gawddammit, but I have no idea what the compiler is going to call it" 2) To identify people whose code you can't trust because they have no idea or no interest in what type a variable should be. It may save five keystrokes to use var instead of IEnumerable<Customer> but it doesn't help understanding when you have to read the code later.

                                Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

                                F Offline
                                F Offline
                                Forogar
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #47

                                I use var when I have some method to call that returns a humungously long-named type. I then immediately change it with the "Make Explicit" option. That way I don't have to type it out in full or select from a potentially huge list of intellisense suggestions.

                                - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

                                OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
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                                • F Forogar

                                  I use var when I have some method to call that returns a humungously long-named type. I then immediately change it with the "Make Explicit" option. That way I don't have to type it out in full or select from a potentially huge list of intellisense suggestions.

                                  - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

                                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                                  OriginalGriffO Offline
                                  OriginalGriff
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #48

                                  Fine by me - it doesn't leave the var in the final code, or treat C# as if it was VB and "don't know, don't care" Dim

                                  Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952) Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

                                  "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

                                    I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                                    1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                                    2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                                    3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                                    4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                                    5. Magic numbers

                                    I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                                    cheers Chris Maunder

                                    J Offline
                                    J Offline
                                    Jorgen Andersson
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #49

                                    0. Systems hungarian.

                                    Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello[^]

                                    1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • C Chris Maunder

                                      I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                                      1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                                      2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                                      3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                                      4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                                      5. Magic numbers

                                      I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                                      cheers Chris Maunder

                                      D Offline
                                      D Offline
                                      Duncan Edwards Jones
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #50

                                      -2. Swallowing an exception -1. Throwing an exception with no message and just the generic "Exception" class. 0. Using try-catch for normal program flow.. (And these are just the rules to the exception :-) )

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • C Chris Maunder

                                        I was thinking about the things that bug me and came up with a short list

                                        1. No comments. I know - let's have a religious war etc, but I find no comments dangerous.
                                        2. using o as a variable name. In fact using anything that's not sensible. ctx, dr_rfp_ptr, i2
                                        3. Bad formatting. It's like walking into a house and being unable to sit down because of empty pizza boxes on the couch
                                        4. Mystery side-effects in code.
                                        5. Magic numbers

                                        I'm guilty of 2 of these on occasion. What's your list?

                                        cheers Chris Maunder

                                        Sander RosselS Offline
                                        Sander RosselS Offline
                                        Sander Rossel
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #51

                                        Things that bug me... 1. Comments. Too often have I seen comments that made no sense, were outdated, wrong or overly obvious. In fact I've learned to ignore comments as they've never helped me in any way. I guess programmers can't write English... 2. Code that is copy-pasted. Often the cause of bugs. 3. Swallowing exceptions. 4. Non-Object Oriented code in Object Oriented languages. 5. Formatting, you've said it. Bonus: 6. Not using brackets in if statements. Very dangerous... I'm working for a company that has worked with VB since the start. The first employees have worked with VB even longer and used Clipper before that. I've seen 1 through 5 all to often :sigh: I've come to hate 6 when we started doing C# and outsourced a project to another company. HORRIBLE!!! I read the code and didn't know if they meant it that way or if they had introduced subtle bugs... A lot of samples I get from the internet have it too. I probably forgot some stuff, but these are a few of my least-favourite things.

                                        It's an OO world.

                                        public class SanderRossel : Lazy<Person>
                                        {
                                        public void DoWork()
                                        {
                                        throw new NotSupportedException();
                                        }
                                        }

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • L Lost User

                                          Adding oil to the fire, a practical example;

                                          using System;
                                          using System.Threading;
                                          using System.Windows.Forms;
                                          using System.Timers;

                                          namespace ConsoleApplication5
                                          {
                                          class Program
                                          {
                                          Timer t = new System.Threading.Timer(null); // will not compile, as it is unclear which Timer
                                          Timer t2 = new System.Windows.Forms.Timer(); // is declared (as opposed to the type instantiated)
                                          Timer pfld_SysTimrTimrt3 = new System.Timers.Timer(); // using hungarian systems with namespace prefix

                                              static void Main(global::System.String\[\]\[\] strSrgs)
                                              {
                                                  global::System.Console.ReadLine();
                                              }
                                          }
                                          

                                          }

                                          And yes, the "console application template" has an entry point which is implicitly private.

                                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

                                          P Offline
                                          P Offline
                                          PIEBALDconsult
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #52

                                          Soooo... the class is private? :confused: How does that work? Even I avoid global:: -- by using an alias if necessary:

                                          using MySqlClient=global::MySql.Data.MySqlClient ;

                                          What the heck is a pfld_ ? A pointer to a fixed long double?

                                          You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.

                                          S L 2 Replies Last reply
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