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  4. Switch boolean.... (reinventing if, unnecessarily)

Switch boolean.... (reinventing if, unnecessarily)

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Weird and The Wonderful
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  • R Rob Grainger

    Came across this kind of code today...

    void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
    {
    switch (enabled) {
    case true:
    FirstControl.Enabled = true;
    SecondControl.Enabled = true;
    ...
    break;
    case false:
    FirstControl.Enabled = false;
    SecondControl.Enabled = false;
    ...
    break;
    }
    }

    I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

    "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

    K Offline
    K Offline
    kmoorevs
    wrote on last edited by
    #7

    Thanks for posting! After two weeks without a new thread, I was starting to think that we are all working on perfect code! BTW, the example is perfect for getting your LOC up! :laugh:

    "Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • R Rob Grainger

      That's the gist of it yep. This is in an MVVM app, using a framework I architected. Sadly, one of the dev's has a habit of naming View Model fields too literally after the thing in the View, so it still ends up looking like code manipulating the view directly (and at the other extreme, a hell of a lot of business logic has polluted the view model). So, while the controls may not be called "FirstControl" etc., its really not that far off - properties with names like "CustomerListBoxSelectedCustomer". I try to clear up as much as I can as I work with stuff, but it seems some people just don't want to learn to work with architecture.

      "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

      D Offline
      D Offline
      DJ van Wyk
      wrote on last edited by
      #8

      Someone needs to sit down with the guy and give him some 'help' to understand decent coding practices. Keep a hammer ready ...

      My plan is to live forever ... so far so good

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • R Rob Grainger

        Came across this kind of code today...

        void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
        {
        switch (enabled) {
        case true:
        FirstControl.Enabled = true;
        SecondControl.Enabled = true;
        ...
        break;
        case false:
        FirstControl.Enabled = false;
        SecondControl.Enabled = false;
        ...
        break;
        }
        }

        I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

        "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander RosselS Offline
        Sander Rossel
        wrote on last edited by
        #9

        You aren't working with my previous employer, are you? :laugh:

        Visit my blog at Sander's bits - Writing the code you need. Or read my articles at my CodeProject profile.

        Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. — Edsger W. Dijkstra

        Regards, Sander

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • J Jeremy Falcon

          I voted this a 5 because it was funny, but I could see a valid reason for that... if they wanted to encapsulate the logic of which controls were affected into a single resource I could see me doing that. Especially if it's called in more than one area.

          Jeremy Falcon

          F Offline
          F Offline
          Freak30
          wrote on last edited by
          #10

          I see a reason for the function but not for the switch statement. Except if you are paid by lines of code of course. :-D

          The good thing about pessimism is, that you are always either right or pleasently surprised.

          J B D 3 Replies Last reply
          0
          • R Rob Grainger

            Came across this kind of code today...

            void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
            {
            switch (enabled) {
            case true:
            FirstControl.Enabled = true;
            SecondControl.Enabled = true;
            ...
            break;
            case false:
            FirstControl.Enabled = false;
            SecondControl.Enabled = false;
            ...
            break;
            }
            }

            I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

            "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

            S Offline
            S Offline
            Simon ORiordan from UK
            wrote on last edited by
            #11

            The advantage of a switch is that it bails as soon as a test passes, thus reducing conditional branching. Here you could use an if else.

            S L S 3 Replies Last reply
            0
            • S Simon ORiordan from UK

              The advantage of a switch is that it bails as soon as a test passes, thus reducing conditional branching. Here you could use an if else.

              S Offline
              S Offline
              ScottM1
              wrote on last edited by
              #12

              Or take it out altogether as it's setting 2 Booleans.

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • S Simon ORiordan from UK

                The advantage of a switch is that it bails as soon as a test passes, thus reducing conditional branching. Here you could use an if else.

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #13

                In that case it has the same advantage as the "if" would have; but if that is an important 'optimization', then you already have a bigger problem :)

                Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                S 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • R Rob Grainger

                  Came across this kind of code today...

                  void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
                  {
                  switch (enabled) {
                  case true:
                  FirstControl.Enabled = true;
                  SecondControl.Enabled = true;
                  ...
                  break;
                  case false:
                  FirstControl.Enabled = false;
                  SecondControl.Enabled = false;
                  ...
                  break;
                  }
                  }

                  I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

                  "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

                  M Offline
                  M Offline
                  mbb01
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #14

                  The only reason I could think for writing or keeping the code this way would be if enabled became an enumerated type and had more than 2 states.

                  D 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • L Lost User

                    In that case it has the same advantage as the "if" would have; but if that is an important 'optimization', then you already have a bigger problem :)

                    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                    S Offline
                    S Offline
                    Simon ORiordan from UK
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #15

                    In my experience Microsoft is pretty much immune to optimisation. You can reduce branching by one or two orders of magnitude and the crappy performance just doesn't budge. :zzz:

                    L 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • M mbb01

                      The only reason I could think for writing or keeping the code this way would be if enabled became an enumerated type and had more than 2 states.

                      D Offline
                      D Offline
                      Daniel Pfeffer
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #16

                      In that case - create it as an enumerated type, with two values. You may then expand the enumeration without rewriting the existing code.

                      If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time - a tremendous whack. --Winston Churchill

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • S Simon ORiordan from UK

                        In my experience Microsoft is pretty much immune to optimisation. You can reduce branching by one or two orders of magnitude and the crappy performance just doesn't budge. :zzz:

                        L Offline
                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #17

                        Probably because it is a micro-optimization; you won't notice much difference if it merely saves you the toggeling of a boolean.

                        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                        S 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • L Lost User

                          Probably because it is a micro-optimization; you won't notice much difference if it merely saves you the toggeling of a boolean.

                          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^][](X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett)

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          Simon ORiordan from UK
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #18

                          Ha! It was actually an image processing filter mask which used pointer arithmetic. I invented something I called a Summation Threshold Filter which should have been ten times quicker than a Median filter. Let's just say that this was not apparent. :laugh:

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • S Simon ORiordan from UK

                            The advantage of a switch is that it bails as soon as a test passes, thus reducing conditional branching. Here you could use an if else.

                            S Offline
                            S Offline
                            Scott Corbett
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #19

                            Umm...that's not true. A switch will continue to fall through until you get to a break statement or the end of the switch (i.e. the default case.) On the other hand, if/else statements do bail as soon as the first passing conditional is found and the associated code block is executed.

                            Scott E. Corbett

                            Richard DeemingR T S 3 Replies Last reply
                            0
                            • R Rob Grainger

                              Came across this kind of code today...

                              void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
                              {
                              switch (enabled) {
                              case true:
                              FirstControl.Enabled = true;
                              SecondControl.Enabled = true;
                              ...
                              break;
                              case false:
                              FirstControl.Enabled = false;
                              SecondControl.Enabled = false;
                              ...
                              break;
                              }
                              }

                              I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

                              "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              Member 9908362
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #20

                              FirstControl.Enabled = !FirstControl.Enabled;
                              SecondControl.Enabled = !SecondControl.Enabled;

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • R Rob Grainger

                                That's the gist of it yep. This is in an MVVM app, using a framework I architected. Sadly, one of the dev's has a habit of naming View Model fields too literally after the thing in the View, so it still ends up looking like code manipulating the view directly (and at the other extreme, a hell of a lot of business logic has polluted the view model). So, while the controls may not be called "FirstControl" etc., its really not that far off - properties with names like "CustomerListBoxSelectedCustomer". I try to clear up as much as I can as I work with stuff, but it seems some people just don't want to learn to work with architecture.

                                "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

                                K Offline
                                K Offline
                                Kirk 10389821
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #21

                                Code Reviews Code Reviews Code Reviews Here is a great rule. When someone gets multiple "mandatory" changes needing to be made as a result of a Code Review. Then you must review weekly, ALL of their code. This continues until they no longer require "mandatory" changes for a few weeks in a row. The goals are: 1) Slow them down 2) Get them to proactively ask people how they should code/name something 3) Show them the right way (for your group) to do things Our Code Reviews have 3 Comment Levels: - Mandatory: We will not let this stand in production, must be rewritten - Suggested: We are not thrilled, but if you can "really" defend it. - Noted: We are just making a note, take it or leave it (Variable names, Variable comments) Make Code Reviews fun. Friday starting at lunch time with pizza brought in. It helps you to detach from the depth of coding for the weekend. Besides, Code Reviews are how Good Developers help new Developers!

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • F Freak30

                                  I see a reason for the function but not for the switch statement. Except if you are paid by lines of code of course. :-D

                                  The good thing about pessimism is, that you are always either right or pleasently surprised.

                                  J Offline
                                  J Offline
                                  Jeremy Falcon
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #22

                                  Totally agree.

                                  Jeremy Falcon

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • S Scott Corbett

                                    Umm...that's not true. A switch will continue to fall through until you get to a break statement or the end of the switch (i.e. the default case.) On the other hand, if/else statements do bail as soon as the first passing conditional is found and the associated code block is executed.

                                    Scott E. Corbett

                                    Richard DeemingR Offline
                                    Richard DeemingR Offline
                                    Richard Deeming
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #23

                                    Scott Corbett wrote:

                                    A switch will continue to fall through until you get to a break statement or the end of the switch (i.e. the default case.)

                                    Not in C# - every case is required to have a terminating statement (break, goto, return or throw).

                                    switch (C# Reference)[^]:

                                    Unlike C++, C# does not allow execution to continue from one switch section to the next. ... C# requires the end of switch sections, including the final one, to be unreachable. That is, unlike some other languages, your code may not fall through into the next switch section.


                                    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined." - Homer

                                    "These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined" - Homer

                                    S 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • R Rob Grainger

                                      Came across this kind of code today...

                                      void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
                                      {
                                      switch (enabled) {
                                      case true:
                                      FirstControl.Enabled = true;
                                      SecondControl.Enabled = true;
                                      ...
                                      break;
                                      case false:
                                      FirstControl.Enabled = false;
                                      SecondControl.Enabled = false;
                                      ...
                                      break;
                                      }
                                      }

                                      I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

                                      "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

                                      B Offline
                                      B Offline
                                      Basketcase Software
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #24

                                      Couldn't resist:

                                      void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
                                      {
                                      FirstControl.Enabled = enabled;
                                      SecondControl.Enabled = enabled;
                                      ...
                                      }

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • S Scott Corbett

                                        Umm...that's not true. A switch will continue to fall through until you get to a break statement or the end of the switch (i.e. the default case.) On the other hand, if/else statements do bail as soon as the first passing conditional is found and the associated code block is executed.

                                        Scott E. Corbett

                                        T Offline
                                        T Offline
                                        ttennebb
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #25

                                        I believe a switch is just a calculated jump statement. It doesn't work it's way through all the previous possibilities. Yes. Once calculated, the program goes to the break statement then jumps out appropriately. Switch statements are quite fast. In this case, I don't see advantage either way as an if statement is very simple too.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • R Rob Grainger

                                          Came across this kind of code today...

                                          void EnableFromValue(bool enabled)
                                          {
                                          switch (enabled) {
                                          case true:
                                          FirstControl.Enabled = true;
                                          SecondControl.Enabled = true;
                                          ...
                                          break;
                                          case false:
                                          FirstControl.Enabled = false;
                                          SecondControl.Enabled = false;
                                          ...
                                          break;
                                          }
                                          }

                                          I'm sure there must be a better way ;-)

                                          "If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough." Alan Kay.

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          Javier jimenez Rico
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #26

                                          it is simple : void EnableFromValue(bool ?enabled) { FirstControl.Enabled=enabled.HasValue?enabled.Value:false; SecondControl.Enabled=enabled.HasValue?enabled.Value:false; }

                                          M 1 Reply Last reply
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