Don't care how you do things. Care about what you do TL;DR: Ditch the Loops: Write Cleaner Code with Declarative Style Problems Verbose logic
Repeated patterns
Readability
Maintainability Solutions Remove loops
Simplify logic
Write declarative and high-level code Context When summing a collection, you might manually loop through the elements and add each one to a variable. This approach works but adds unnecessary lines of code and makes it harder to follow. Using language high-level functions, you can make your code shorter, clearer, and less error-prone. It tells you exactly what the code is doing and not how it is doing it. Sample Code Wrong transaction_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = 0
for transaction_value in transaction_values:
    balance += transaction_value Right transactions_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = sum(transactions_values) Detection [x]Semi-Automatic You can detect this smell when you see explicit loops accumulating a result, especially in simple operations like summing values. Tags Declarative Level [x]Beginner AI Generation AI generators can sometimes produce this smell by writing verbose loops instead of using functions like sum(). If you don't specify the need for cleaner, declarative solutions, they might opt for more lines of code. AI Detection AI systems can easily detect and simplify this smell when you ask them to reduce code complexity with simple instructions to "optimize" or "simplify," most AI tools suggest using sum() in this case. Try Them! But Remember: AI Assistants make lots of mistakes Without Proper Instruction

With Specific Instructions



ChatGPT

ChatGPT



Claude

Claude



Perplexity

Perplexity



Gemini

Gemini Conclusion Favoring declarative functions like sum() improves readability and reduces potential errors. You reduce the need for manual loops and make it easier to maintain. It shows exactly what the code is doing with minimal syntax and clutter. Related reading https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xi-sit35t1 https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xxv Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion. Credits: Photo by Kati Hoehl on Unsplash The most important property of a program is whether it accomplishes the intention of its user. C.A.R. Hoare https://hackernoon.com/400-thought-provoking-software-engineering-quotes?embedable=true This article is part of the CodeSmell Series on HackerNoon. Don't care how you do things. Care about what you do Don't care how you do things. Care about what you do TL;DR: Ditch the Loops: Write Cleaner Code with Declarative Style TL;DR: Ditch the Loops: Write Cleaner Code with Declarative Style Problems Verbose logic Repeated patterns Readability Maintainability Verbose logic Repeated patterns Readability Maintainability Solutions Remove loops Simplify logic Write declarative and high-level code Remove loops Simplify logic Write declarative and high-level code Context When summing a collection, you might manually loop through the elements and add each one to a variable. This approach works but adds unnecessary lines of code and makes it harder to follow. Using language high-level functions, you can make your code shorter, clearer, and less error-prone. It tells you exactly what the code is doing and not how it is doing it. Sample Code Wrong transaction_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = 0
for transaction_value in transaction_values:
    balance += transaction_value transaction_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = 0
for transaction_value in transaction_values:
    balance += transaction_value Right transactions_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = sum(transactions_values) transactions_values = [10.0, -5.21, 101.32, 1.11, -0.38]
balance = sum(transactions_values) Detection [x]Semi-Automatic [x] Semi-Automatic [x] You can detect this smell when you see explicit loops accumulating a result, especially in simple operations like summing values. Tags Declarative Declarative Level [x]Beginner [x] Beginner [x] AI Generation AI generators can sometimes produce this smell by writing verbose loops instead of using functions like sum() . sum() If you don't specify the need for cleaner, declarative solutions, they might opt for more lines of code. AI Detection AI systems can easily detect and simplify this smell when you ask them to reduce code complexity with simple instructions to "optimize" or "simplify," most AI tools suggest using sum() in this case. sum() Try Them! Try Them! But Remember: AI Assistants make lots of mistakes But Remember: AI Assistants make lots of mistakes Without Proper Instruction

With Specific Instructions



ChatGPT

ChatGPT



Claude

Claude



Perplexity

Perplexity



Gemini

Gemini Without Proper Instruction

With Specific Instructions ChatGPT

ChatGPT Claude

Claude Perplexity

Perplexity Gemini

Gemini Without Proper Instruction With Specific Instructions Without Proper Instruction Without Proper Instruction With Specific Instructions With Specific Instructions ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT ChatGPT Claude Claude Claude Claude Claude Claude Claude Claude Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Perplexity Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Gemini Conclusion Favoring declarative functions like sum() improves readability and reduces potential errors. sum() You reduce the need for manual loops and make it easier to maintain. It shows exactly what the code is doing with minimal syntax and clutter. Related reading https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xi-sit35t1 https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xi-sit35t1 https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xxv https://hackernoon.com/how-to-find-the-stinky-parts-of-your-code-part-xxv Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion. Disclaimer: Code Smells are my opinion . opinion Credits: Photo by Kati Hoehl on Unsplash Credits: Photo by Kati Hoehl on Unsplash Kati Hoehl Unsplash The most important property of a program is whether it accomplishes the intention of its user. The most important property of a program is whether it accomplishes the intention of its user. C.A.R. Hoare C.A.R. Hoare https://hackernoon.com/400-thought-provoking-software-engineering-quotes?embedable=true https://hackernoon.com/400-thought-provoking-software-engineering-quotes?embedable=true This article is part of the CodeSmell Series on HackerNoon. This article is part of the CodeSmell Series on HackerNoon . CodeSmell Series on HackerNoon

Walkthroughs, tutorials, guides, and tips. This story will teach you how to do something new or how to do something better.

Refactoring 016 - Building With The Essence

Code Smell 268 - Ternary Metaprogramming

Buy My Book

Share your ideas with me!

Read My Stories

Buy Me a Coffee

Too Long; Didn't Read

Make resilience your competitive advantage

Code Smell 269 - Low-Level Addition

About Author

Comments

TOPICS

THIS ARTICLE WAS FEATURED IN

Related Stories

Untitled Story

10 Predictions About the Future of Finance

100 Days of AI, Day 8: Experimenting With Microsoft's Semantic Kernel Using GPT-4

AI-Generated Code and Copyright Infringement: Codex’s Attribution Problem

Analyzing Common Vulnerabilities Introduced by Code-Generative AI

Does AI-generated Code Need to Be Tested?

10 Predictions About the Future of Finance

100 Days of AI, Day 8: Experimenting With Microsoft's Semantic Kernel Using GPT-4

AI-Generated Code and Copyright Infringement: Codex’s Attribution Problem

Analyzing Common Vulnerabilities Introduced by Code-Generative AI

Does AI-generated Code Need to Be Tested?

Light-Mode

Classic

Newspaper

Dark-Mode

Neon Noir

Minty

HN StartUps