3 ms·

I largely agree with what you say, but can you elaborate on what you mean by "macho coding" styles? I'm guessing youre referring to when one deigns venture into

I largely agree with what you say, but can you elaborate on what you mean by "macho coding" styles? I'm guessing youre referring to when one deigns venture into template metaprogramming. TMP is an area with 2 decades of experience, I can basically only do it with a copy of the standard and/or relevant reference material handy. Although I'd consider my C++ knowledge in the 95th percentile or so, I probably know less than 20% of the std lib well. I've read most of the +1200 pages of the C++11 spec, but ive not kept up to date since, sadly, because its no longer my daily language.

harry8 7y ago
What I mean is anything that is showing off, has a lack of humility and implicitly disparages others in a way that is totally unneeded while producing lower-quality, less-maintainable, less robust code. Being clever for the sake of appearing clever. That kind of thing. if(condition) I_am_tough_so_I_do_not_brace(); The un-braced block is a classic "macho" pose in code. leaving out a '{' and a '}', two characters, has no benefit in any way, shape or form. It is decrying "I will never make a mistake with this loose razor blade if you do maintaining it is because you suck" There is literally no reason to do it ever, under any circumstances. Yet I have, and we do. We can change. Now watch the arguments presented when you bring un-braced blocks up. They're insanely ridiculous. (vertical space, need static analysis, etc.) If you were betting your retirement savings on no bug in the line of code now or in the future, you'd be very nervous about it sure. And then you would brace it. Unbraced blocks are a minor thing that mostly don't matter. I wouldn't fight too hard over it. It's just that it's so very, very clear that one way is bugs for zero benefit while the other isn't. Meh. So here's Bjarne being "Uber-Macho" to the delight of the conference crowd. Note the quote: "I think I understand what you're saying and I think you happen to be wrong." (crowd whoops in glee). https://youtu.be/OB-bdWKwXsU?t=4141 https://youtu.be/OB-bdWKwXsU?t=4141 This is a pretty ugly way of saying "I disagree and this is why..." But the crowd loves it. That attitude gets into our code. "Macho coding" is the best descriptive name I can manage. Maybe there's a better one? (Note I agree with the content of Bjarne says, I just think he's being an asshole about it, why do that? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waltersobchakeit https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waltersobcha... )

harry8 7y ago

What I mean is anything that is showing off, has a lack of humility and implicitly disparages others in a way that is totally unneeded while producing lower-quality, less-maintainable, less robust code. Being clever for the sake of appearing clever. That kind of thing. if(condition) I_am_tough_so_I_do_not_brace(); The un-braced block is a classic "macho" pose in code. leaving out a '{' and a '}', two characters, has no benefit in any way, shape or form. It is decrying "I will never make a mistake with this loose razor blade if you do maintaining it is because you suck" There is literally no reason to do it ever, under any circumstances. Yet I have, and we do. We can change. Now watch the arguments presented when you bring un-braced blocks up. They're insanely ridiculous. (vertical space, need static analysis, etc.) If you were betting your retirement savings on no bug in the line of code now or in the future, you'd be very nervous about it sure. And then you would brace it. Unbraced blocks are a minor thing that mostly don't matter. I wouldn't fight too hard over it. It's just that it's so very, very clear that one way is bugs for zero benefit while the other isn't. Meh. So here's Bjarne being "Uber-Macho" to the delight of the conference crowd. Note the quote: "I think I understand what you're saying and I think you happen to be wrong." (crowd whoops in glee). https://youtu.be/OB-bdWKwXsU?t=4141 https://youtu.be/OB-bdWKwXsU?t=4141 This is a pretty ugly way of saying "I disagree and this is why..." But the crowd loves it. That attitude gets into our code. "Macho coding" is the best descriptive name I can manage. Maybe there's a better one? (Note I agree with the content of Bjarne says, I just think he's being an asshole about it, why do that? https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waltersobchakeit https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Waltersobcha... )