Re: [FWP] Badly written code

[Michael G Schwern <schwern@pobox.com>]

On Sun, Nov 07, 1999 at 07:05:21PM -0500, Chip Turner wrote:
> Bad code exists.  We all know it.
> 
> But do we really need to seem elitist?  Maybe this guy asked for it,
> who knows, but the FWP list sitting around inflating their egos by
> dissing this guy's code doesn't strike me as very mature.  We're
> professionals, people.  We know our stuff.  Lots of people aren't as
> good as we are; we should either stay quiet or offer help, not
> ridicule.

I have to disagree here.  While maybe FWP or clpm are not the ideal
forums for such a thrashing, it does serve a very important purpose.
It acts as a peer code review.  A really harsh and grisly one, but it
serves the purpose none the less.

Remember, this is a case of a programmer displaying what he thought
was good code.  He didn't seem to understand that there was a better
way or that he was doing anything incorrect.  We act as a peer group
since he seems to be lacking one.  Even if it is a harsh lesson, the
lesson will probably be learned.

Snobbish?  Elitist?  Off-topic?  Probably.  But it's better than
saying nothing and letting him going on thinking nothing's wrong and
he's doing well.  Or (god forbid) teaching others.

Nothing like a good kick in the head, I say. ;)

-- 

Michael G Schwern                                           schwern@pobox.com
                    http://www.pobox.com/~schwern
     /(?:(?:(1)[.-]?)?\(?(\d{3})\)?[.-]?)?(\d{3})[.-]?(\d{4})(x\d+)?/i

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