Tagged Questions
1
vote
3answers
352 views
When should one use “out” parameters?
In Objective-C, there are several methods like initWithContentsOfFile:encoding:error: where one passes in a reference to an NSError object for the error: parameter. In this example, the value of the ...
30
votes
15answers
3k views
Why use other number bases when programming
My coworkers and I have been bending our minds to figuring out why anyone would go out of their way to program numbers in a base other than base 10.
I suggested that perhaps you could optimize longer ...
2
votes
3answers
161 views
Overloading interface buttons, what are the best practices?
Imagine you'll have always a button labeled "Continue" in the same position in your app's GUI.
Would you rather make a single button instance that takes different actions depending on the current ...
5
votes
5answers
298 views
When decomposing a large function, how can I avoid the complexity from the extra subfunctions?
Say I have a large function like the following:
function do_lots_of_stuff(){
{ //subpart 1
...
}
...
{ //subpart N
...
}
}
a common pattern is to decompose it ...
2
votes
2answers
268 views
Using a DSN database connection is a bad practice?
During all my professional lifetime that I have been programming in Windows enviroments, I advised my friends and coworkers to not use a DSN database connection in their applications, based on my own ...
14
votes
6answers
912 views
while(true) and loop-breaking - anti-pattern?
Consider the following code:
public void doSomething(int input)
{
while(true)
{
TransformInSomeWay(input);
if(ProcessingComplete(input))
break;
...
53
votes
17answers
3k views
How to deal with tautology in comments?
Sometimes I find myself in situations when the part of code that I am writing is (or seems to be) so self-evident that its name would be basically repeated as a comment:
class Example
{
/// ...
6
votes
3answers
171 views
Is it bad practice to define/use “Preset” functions
Lets say I have an extremely robust and versatile function:
void DoAnything(action, target, context)
In my program, 90% of the time I call this function, it's with the same parameters:
...
49
votes
17answers
3k views
How to train yourself to avoid writing “clever” code?
Do you know that feeling when you just need to show off that new trick with Expressions or generalize three different procedures? This does not have to be on Architecture Astronaut scale and in fact ...
97
votes
53answers
6k views
Harmful temptations in programming [closed]
Just curious, what kinds of temptations in programming turned out to be really harmful in your projects?
Like when you really feel the urge to do something and you believe it's going to benefit the ...
