How to Find the Stinky Parts of Your Code [Part XXXIX]

It smells because there are likely many instances where it could be edited or improved. Most of these smells are just hints of something that might be wrong. Therefore, they are not required to be fixed per se… (You should look into it, though.) Previous Code Smells You can find all the previous code smells (Part i - XXXVIII) . here Let's continue... Code Smell 191 - Misplaced Responsibility You have a clear responsibility for the wrong object TL;DR: Don't be afraid to create or overload the proper objects. Problems Fault. Bijection Solutions Find actual behavior on the real objects using the . MAPPER Answer the question: 'Whose responsibility is..?' Context Finding responsible objects is a tough task. If we talk to anybody outside the software world, they will tell us where we should place every responsibility. Software engineers, on the contrary, tend to put behavior in strange places like . helpers Sample Code Wrong function add(a, b) { return a + b; } // this is natural in many programming languages, // but unnatural in real life class GraphicEditor { constructor() { this.PI = 3.14; // We shouldn't define it here } pi() { return this.PI; // Not this object responsibility } drawCircle(radius) { console.log(`Drawing a circle with radius ${radius} and circumference ${2 * this.pi() * radius}.`); } } Right class Integer { function add(adder) { return this + adder; } } // This won't compile in many programming languages // But it is the right place for adding responsibility class GraphicEditor { drawCircle(radius) { console.log(`Drawing a circle with radius ${radius} and circumference ${2 * Number.pi() * radius}.`); } } // PI's definition is Number's responsibility Detection Manual [x] This is a semantic smell. Exceptions Some languages force you to add protocol in some objects and not on everyone (like primitive integers, Strings, Arrays, etc.) Tags Behavior Conclusion If you put the responsibilities in the proper object, you will surely find them in the same place. Relations Code Smell 22 - Helpers Code Smell 63 - Feature Envy More Info Clean Code Book Disclaimer Code Smells are just my . opinion Credits Photo by on Austin Neill Unsplash We know an object by what it does, by what services it can provide. That is to say, we know objects by their behaviors. David West Software Engineering Great Quotes Code Smell 192 - Optional Attributes You need to model something optional. Have you tried collections? TL;DR: Collections are fantastic. And Polymorphic. Problems Null If Pollution Solutions Change the optional attribute to a collection. Context If you need to model something that might be missing, some fancy languages will provide optional, nullable, and many other wrong solutions dealing with . The Billion Dollar Mistake Empty collections and non-empty collections are polymorphic. Sample Code Wrong class Person { constructor(name, email) { this.name = name; this.email = email; } email() { return this.email; // might be null } } // We cannot use safely person.email() // We need to check for null explicitly Right class Person { constructor(name, emails) { this.name = name; this.emails = emails; // emails should always be a collection. // even an empty one // We can check it here } emails() { return this.emails; } // We can mutate the emails since they are not essential addEmail(email) { this.emails.push(email); } removeEmail(email) { const index = this.emails.indexOf(email); if (index !== -1) { this.emails.splice(index, 1); } } } // we can iterate the person.emails() // in a loop without checking for null Detection Semi-Automatic [x] You can detect nullable attributes and change them when necessary. Tags Null Conclusion This is a generalization of the null object pattern. Relations Code Smell 12 - Null Code Smell 149 - Optional Chaining Code Smell 19 - Optional Arguments More Info Null: The Billion Dollar Mistake Null Object Pattern Disclaimer Code Smells are just my . opinion Credits Photo by on Levi Jones Unsplash To iterate is human, to recurse divine Peter Deutsch Code Smell 193 - Switch Instead of Formula Which is better, declarative or shorter code? TL;DR: Be declarative enough but no more. Problems Readability Premature Optimization Solutions Use a short version (or not). Always favor readability >> Premature optimization. Humans learn by examples, not by formulas. Shorter is not always better. Context Last week, a tweet went viral because of a missing formula. Twitter It is the DigiD digital authentication iOS app in the Netherlands. Sample Code Wrong? private static string GetPercentageRounds(double percentage) { if (percentage == 0) return "⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪"; if (percentage > 0.0 && percentage 0.1 && percentage 0.2 && percentage 0.3 && percentage 0.4 && percentage 0.5 && percentage 0.6 && percentage 0.7 && percentage 0.8 && percentage <= 0.9) return "🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵⚪"; return "🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵"; } } } // Full source // https://github.com/MinBZK/woo-besluit-broncode-digid-app/blob/master/Source/DigiD.iOS/Services/NFCService.cs Right? private static string GetPercentageRounds(double percentage) { string dots = "🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵🔵⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪⚪"; int blueDots = (int) Math.Truncate (percentage* 10); int startingPoint = 10-blueDots; return dots. Substring(startingPoint, 10); } Detection Semi-Automatic [x] This is a semantic smell. In this case, we can count the number of if clauses. Tags Readability Conclusion You can read the original to take your own conclusions. There's some serious debate and, of course, several premature optimizators bringing obscure and unneeded solutions with complexity and stupid benchmarks evidence for a loop that executes only once. Twitter thread (O) log(n) And lots of memes. As a final conclusion, I asked and was not able to simplify it. ChatGPT Relations Code Smell 36 - Switch/case/elseif/else/if statements Code Smell 20 - Premature Optimization More Info Twitter GitHub Repo How to Get Rid of Annoying IFs Forever Disclaimer Code Smells are just my . opinion There are two ways of constructing a software design. One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies. And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. C. A. R. Hoare Code Smell 194 - Missing Interval From date should be lower than to date TL;DR: Intervals are there. Why use plain dates? Problems Missing abstraction Duplicated Code Not enforced invariants Primitive Obsession Fault Bijection principle violation Fail Fast Solutions Create and use an Interval Object Context The restriction "From date should be lower than to date" means that the starting date of a certain interval should occur before the ending date of the same interval. The "From date" should be a date that comes earlier in time than the "To date". This restriction is in place to ensure that the interval being defined makes logical sense and that the dates used to define it are in the correct order. We all know it. But we miss creating the object. Interval Would you create a as a pair of 3 ? Certainly, not. Date Integer numbers This is the same. Sample Code Wrong val from = LocalDate.of(2018, 12, 9) val to = LocalDate.of(2022, 12, 22) val elapsed = elapsedDays(from, to) fun elapsedDays(fromDate: LocalDate, toDate: LocalDate): Long { return ChronoUnit.DAYS.between(fromDate, toDate) } // We need to apply this short function // Or the inline version many times in our code // We don't check from Date to be less than toDate // We can make accounting numbers with a negative number Right // We reify the Interval Concept data class Interval(val fromDate: LocalDate, val toDate: LocalDate) { init { if (fromDate >= toDate) { throw IllegalArgumentException("From date must be before to date") } // Of course the Interval must be immutable // By using the keyword 'data' } fun elapsedDays(): Long { return ChronoUnit.DAYS.between(fromDate, toDate) } } val from = LocalDate.of(2018, 12, 9) val to = LocalDate.of(2002, 12, 22) val interval = Interval(from, to) // Invalid Detection Manual [x] This is a primitive obsession smell. It is related to how we model things. Tags Primitive Conclusion If you find software with missing simple validations, it certainly needs reification. Relations Code Smell 177 - Missing Small Objects Code Smell 46 - Repeated Code Code Smell 122 - Primitive Obsession More Info Fail Fast Disclaimer Code Smells are just my . opinion Credits Photo by on Towfiqu barbhuiya Unsplash At any particular point in time, the features provided by our programming languages reflect our understanding of software and programming. R. E. Fairley Code Smell 195 - Yoda Conditions Best is to put the expected value last, if conditions you want to write. TL;DR: In a natural way, write your conditions. Problems Readability The least surprise principle violation Solutions Write your conditions with the expected value as the second. Name the variables accordingly. Context Most programmers write the variable or condition first and the test value second. In fact, this is the correct order for assertions. In some languages, this style is used to avoid accidental assignment instead of equality comparison, which can result in a logic error in the code. Sample Code Wrong if (42 == answerToLifeMeaning) { // } Right if (answerToLifeMeaning == 42) { // might be mistaken with answerToLifeMeaning = 42 } Detection Semi-Automatic [x] We can check for constant values on the first side of the comparison. Tags Readability Conclusion Reliable, direct, and clear be when conditions your writing. Relations Code Smell 99 - First Second Disclaimer Code Smells are just my . opinion Credits Photo by on Lia Unsplash Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error. Marcus Cicero 5 more code smells are coming soon…