4 ms·

Maybe so, but much easier to read. Code is read 10x more often than written, especially in teams, so it makes sense to optimize for legibility rather than elega

Maybe so, but much easier to read. Code is read 10x more often than written, especially in teams, so it makes sense to optimize for legibility rather than elegance in some "higher" mindset, or less keys pressed (because most of the time will be spent staring at the line you wrote than actually typing if you write a functional line like that.)

kccqzy 6y ago
That's a bad argument because you didn't specify who the audience is. Functional code is more readable to me (and many teams I've worked with), imperative code is more readable to you and that's fine. Go with your team's preference. And, most of time, what your team prefers can easily be changed with a few sessions to introduce them to a functional style.
akvadrako 6y ago
I totally disagree. I can read the short version pretty quickly and get an idea what it does - every word matters. The original version with for loops just looks like a block of text. Spacing would help, but I would still need to look carefully to pick out the important bits.
marta_morena_29 6y ago
It's a tradeoff. The problem is that academia often comes from the angle of abstracting and generalizing everything, which is even more harmful than copy & pasting and using the simplest code possible (mostly because copy & paste + simplest code is still readable and can be improved upon, while academic style code usually is inaccessible). You don't want to listen to any specific camp. The best is always in the middle and you are on the right track: "Pick what is easy to read." However there is a caveat, which is that functional style is only hard to read at the beginning. Have a look at how modern languages integrate functional programming (see java, C#, C++, etc.). Java streams are a common example. They make most code much easier to read ONCE you are used to it, because they provide standardized behaviour that is side-effect free. When you write everything in plain syntax, the reader needs to abstract your code in his head, while when using streams, you just know what `filter`, `map`, `reduce`, etc. do and you only need to look at the small customizations. It's easier to read once you are used to it. However there is a limit and this limit get hit quickly. A lot of people like to make their code as complicated and fancy as possible and reduce every possible line. This is definitely wrong. Code must be easy to understand and change. If you fail that, you are doing it wrong. This also depends on your environment. If your co-workers don't understand the code you write, you have failed, no matter if your code is "nicer" or not. You either need to write simpler code or educate your co-workers to create common ground.
elcritch 6y ago
Perhaps its easier for you to read. It takes me 2-3 longer to read the loops since each loop is unique and I have to parse the semantics/context, whereas its quick for me to parse the behavior from the named functional operators even at a glance. Conversely I find writing the functional version a bit trickier for complex reduce operations.
rrdharan 6y ago
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
- MrBuddyCasino 6y ago
  Underrated comment.

kccqzy 6y ago

That's a bad argument because you didn't specify who the audience is. Functional code is more readable to me (and many teams I've worked with), imperative code is more readable to you and that's fine. Go with your team's preference. And, most of time, what your team prefers can easily be changed with a few sessions to introduce them to a functional style.

akvadrako 6y ago

I totally disagree. I can read the short version pretty quickly and get an idea what it does - every word matters. The original version with for loops just looks like a block of text. Spacing would help, but I would still need to look carefully to pick out the important bits.

marta_morena_29 6y ago

It's a tradeoff. The problem is that academia often comes from the angle of abstracting and generalizing everything, which is even more harmful than copy & pasting and using the simplest code possible (mostly because copy & paste + simplest code is still readable and can be improved upon, while academic style code usually is inaccessible). You don't want to listen to any specific camp. The best is always in the middle and you are on the right track: "Pick what is easy to read." However there is a caveat, which is that functional style is only hard to read at the beginning. Have a look at how modern languages integrate functional programming (see java, C#, C++, etc.). Java streams are a common example. They make most code much easier to read ONCE you are used to it, because they provide standardized behaviour that is side-effect free. When you write everything in plain syntax, the reader needs to abstract your code in his head, while when using streams, you just know what `filter`, `map`, `reduce`, etc. do and you only need to look at the small customizations. It's easier to read once you are used to it. However there is a limit and this limit get hit quickly. A lot of people like to make their code as complicated and fancy as possible and reduce every possible line. This is definitely wrong. Code must be easy to understand and change. If you fail that, you are doing it wrong. This also depends on your environment. If your co-workers don't understand the code you write, you have failed, no matter if your code is "nicer" or not. You either need to write simpler code or educate your co-workers to create common ground.

elcritch 6y ago

Perhaps its easier for you to read. It takes me 2-3 longer to read the loops since each loop is unique and I have to parse the semantics/context, whereas its quick for me to parse the behavior from the named functional operators even at a glance. Conversely I find writing the functional version a bit trickier for complex reduce operations.

rrdharan 6y ago

Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.

MrBuddyCasino 6y ago
Underrated comment.