[UPHPU] OT: Code Readability (was: short syntax without the else?)

[Rusty Keele]

I've had to maintain people's sloppy code in the past, and it is very 
expensive, both in terms of the time I spend on it, and the frustration 
levels I reach trying to understand it and modify it without introducing 
new bugs. I've also maintained well-written code, and the difference is 
approximately one order of magnitude in effort. That is to say, it is 10 
times more expensive in my experience to fix bugs and add features in 
code that is sloppily written and poorly documented.


I agree 100%.  I have had the wonderful opportunity to add features to and debug other people's poorly written code.  It is a chore to say the least.  

I live by the rule that I first learned in a beginning CS class and have had validated hundreds of times since:
1. make your code work
2. make it pretty (this includes making it readable, maintainable and well commented)

-Rusty


       
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