Code smells are hints that code is taking a potentially nasty turn. What are some common code smells that we should all be looking out for as we're coding?
Code smells are hints that code is taking a potentially nasty turn. What are some common code smells that we should all be looking out for as we're coding?
Background When you're starting work on a new project or organizing a team to accomplish a goal, there's often a foundation that needs to be established: How is your team structured? What software should we use to help us? How do we set goals? How do we measure our progress ... the list goes on. It's a common challenge that's met by anyone organizing a team or setting off to work on something. So do you copy what worked for someone else by using a cookie cutter approach, or do you wing it and see what happens? My approach when faced with two extremes is usually to aim somewhere in the middle. Cookie Cutters Being a copy-cat and using cookie cutters has some benefits. If something worked for some all-star teams at big successful companies, then why re-invent the…
Background This probably sounds really nit-picky or OCD, but I think it's an issue worth addressing. Excessive nesting of logic within code can make things nightmarish to read. Even a few of years ago I never thought anything of this. I mean, how much could it really affect someone reading it? He/she must be a complete newb to not be able to read my logic. Fast forward to a co-op placement where this was more closely moderated by my managers, and I began to pay more attention to it... Why? Alright, so all that you know so far about my opinion on this is that excessive nesting bothers me. So far, my mission is accomplished. Everything else is just extra. The first issue with excessive nesting is that it actually makes logic hard to follow. If you're doing code reviews…
