Preventative Programming Techniques: Avoid and Correct Common Mistakes (Charles River Media Programming)

The symptoms of i are:

• Code that requires redundant comments to make it clear what the code is doing.

• Code that cannot be easily parsed in one pass similar to reading ordinary language.

• A name that is not understandable without the surrounding context.

To prevent i:

• Use auto-completion and code templates available in most major editors to make writing fully understandable names easier.

• Follow standard naming conventions.

• Choose names that make the code read closer to everyday language.

To cure the effects of i:

• Read existing code that you are incorporating into your project to look for names that could be made more understandable.

• When possible, change names to match the comments until the comments are no longer necessary.