programming

Programming (silly stuff)

On programming style

I've been known to get quite religious when it comes to programming style, but there is some good thinking behind bits of it.

Full bracing

I'm a strong believer in `full-bracing' of C/etc. constructs, e.g.:

    if (condition) {
        do_something ();
    }

Instead of:

    if (condition)
        do_something ();

Besides just being nicer, and avoiding the `ambiguous else' problem, it also prevents unpleasantness when `do_something()' is a macro. For instance, if some included header file contained:

    #define do_something()   magic = MARKER; do_that_thing()

Then the substitution in the un-braced `if' would break the logic -- the resulting `do_that_thing()' call wouldn't be inside the `if'. Of course, the sensible macro author would define that as:

    #define do_something()  { magic = MARKER; do_that_thing(); }

This gets around the problem, but macros aren't always guarenteed to be nicely written like that..

There are a multitude more of macro-related pathological brace breakage cases. E.g.:

    #define do_something()   if (broken) { abort(); } else { do_something_else(); }

That, although it seems fairly benign, causes a problem when substituted into the brace-less `if':

    if (condition)
        if (broken) { abort(); } else { do_something_else(); }

Which `if' does the `else' belong to ..?

How to crack nuts

Language	How to crack nut
C	Use a standard size hammer. Hit the nut square on and it will crack.
Miranda	Create a list of hammers and a function which recurses the list hitting the nut as it goes
Occam	Get 50000 small hammers to hit the nut simutaneously. This will provide enough energy to crack the nut.
C++	Create objects which represent the various hammer components and the nut. Define functions which will let these objects interact to crack the nut.
Java	Keep hitting the nut with an inflatable hammer until it cracks (or the hammer bursts).
Assembler	Define the nut as a register and the hammer as a mask. Simply twiddle one of the bits until the nut breaks.
Pascal	Use a small hammer. You may need to hit the nut several times before it will crack.
Basic	Do people still program in this language ?
Lambda-calculus	Define a recursive function that will hit the nut until it cracks. Writing the function will take more time than executing it, so it's probably not worth it.
Lingo	Create the hammer and the nut as actors and ask the hammer (nicely) to crack the nut. "Please Mr. nut, crack".
Prolog	Use constraints to search all possible nut configurations for one which is cracked/broken. Additionally, use branch-and-bound to search for the configuration which is the most smashed-up nut.

Hints and Tips

Remember not to deallocate static buffers
Remember to tell you programming partner when editing the same file
Always use a different output file than the source code
Initalising control variables in while loops helps
Link lists don't like to have the head pointer changed to a random address
Always fill buffers with data before returning them
When fixing a bug make sure that it wasn't caused by an earlier bug
Keep a change log so you can see what you altered and why
When doing primitive garbage collection, make sure you test it first
Starting in the right language helps
When Using fprintf remember to use a pattern
Remember that two instances of a class are different
The write() function can fail.
When sleepy and tired, fix type warnings instead of casting them
Remember that different machines have different endianisms.
Always use -Wall so that you spot errors like: if( int_var = 0 )
Class member functions are their own type, not generic, and casting them does not work.

Last modified: Mon Mar 22 14:18:15 2004 by Fred Barnes.