Re: [FWP] Re: HUMOR: you have to see this code!

[Charles H <chowse@bellsouth.net>]

Yes, it's weird, and yes it's almost funny. But it probably does what he wanted it to
do, and he probably has a god-awful lot of hours invested in it, and he is probably
proud of his work.

So, lets don't be too harsh! We all started somewhere, and I know I have code that is
still in use that I would not want anyone to see, and would guess others do also.

Would I hire him based on this example... not likely. Have others hired him based on
demo of working code? probably. Will he continue to get jobs based on demos of working
code? probably.

Is the problem related to degree or non-degree? not directly. Some people with degrees
can do the job, and some people without degree can do the job. A degree is an indicator
of teachability and persistence. It does not tell me whether or not a person can hack
perl.

cch
--------------------

Matthew Bafford wrote:

> [Sat, Nov 06, 1999 at 09:40:11AM -0800] David Henderson:
> > On Fri, Nov 05, 1999 at 06:44:27PM -0500, Matthew Bafford wrote:
> > >     http://x31.deja.com/[ST_rn=if]/threadmsg_if.xp?AN=544885205
> >
> > Even better, remove all of Deja's clutter by invoking DejaNews Classic:
> >
> >     http://x31.deja.com/=dnc/threadmsg_if.xp?AN=544885205
>
> Even better:
>
>     http://www.deja.com/=dnc/threadmsg_if.xp?AN=544885205&fmt=text
>
> obPERL:
>
> Use Deja without the clutter:
>
>     http://dragons.home.duesouth.net/dejaview.html
>
> :)
>
> > And after looking at this code, I have to laugh.  This is some of the
> > weirdest Perl I've ever seen.  :-)
>
> I can't laugh about it; it's too sad...
>
> In no particular order:
>
> 0) Documentation isn't in POD...  tsk tsk
>
> 1) First working line is declaring the LOCK constants, and getting them
>    wrong.
>
> 2) function_names_that_take_up_more_than_twenty_characters.
>    (not_that_twenty_is_a_hard_wired_number, but_shorter_would_be_nice!)
>
> 3) Inconsistent indentation.
>
> 3) Extensive use of local; he seems to have heard about my, once.
>
> 4) Subroutines for simple ideas.  get_random_option_from_choices, for
>    example.
>
> 5) flock before open.  I'm surprised there isn't a warning for that.
>    (Not that there is any evidence he uses warnings; there are 5 warnings
>    from perl -wc joke1)
>
> 6) Using regular expressions needlessly:
>
>         $_ = <INDEXFILE>;
>         if ($_ =~ /(.+)/){$_ = $1;}
>         else {die "Bad data in index $_[0].";}
>
>    Why not just:
>
>         chomp($_ = <INDEXFILE>);
>         die "Bad data in index $_[0]." unless length;
>
>    ?
>
> 7) Gaudy comment blocks.
>
> 8) More stupid subroutines that take up too much space, and add no
>    clarity:
>
>         test_TABLE_for_key boils down to return $TABLE{$_[0]}
>         test_LADY_TABLE_for_key is the same
>
> 9) Creating an element in an array to find out if it exists:
>
>         if(!$_[1]){
>
> A) Hard coded numbers.  What the hell is 90000?
>
> B) Using if checks to simulate sprintf("%3d", $number)
>
>         if (($date < 100) && ($date > 9)){$date = "0".$date;}
>         if ($date < 10){$date = "00".$date;}
>
> C) Who cares about leap years?
>
>         @monthdays = ("31","28","31","30","31","30","31","30","30","31","30","31");
>
> D) Using underscores to distinguish between local to subroutine, and
>    local to file vars.
>
> E) #                     PATENT PENDING
>    No comment needed.  (Let me rephrase that.  No comment about THIS
>    comment needed from me... :)
>
>
> Well, I got to about line 1800 in the message.
>
> I can understand this code coming from someone who is new to programming.
>
> Him claiming he gets paid for this is hard to believe (and scary if true).
>
> > David Henderson
>
> --Matthew
> --
> I'm looking for an archive of the FWP list.  If you have one, or maybe
> just a spool file of the list that you would like to compress and make
> available, please let me know.  Thanks.
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
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