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Is it though? Like, if I see a lot of nested "ifs" with "returns" sprinkled around, I'm getting "icky" vibes way before I intellectually know what is wrong. Li

Is it though? Like, if I see a lot of nested "ifs" with "returns" sprinkled around, I'm getting "icky" vibes way before I intellectually know what is wrong. Like, I don't think you can get away with just typing "code smell" in a CR. That's lazy but the gut reaction to some code can be a useful starting point.

fsckboy 3y ago
> a lot of nested "ifs" with "returns" sprinkled around how do you feel about the code smell of a tail-recursive fizz-buzz?
- francoisdevlin 3y ago
  Smells like breakfast
- DubiousPusher 3y ago
  Erase it and do it iteratively like any sane person! Kidding aside, I'm more talking about the kinds of large procedures common to C++ codebases. These involve many sequential state changes which leave lots of opportunities for not initializing things and the like when the right set of conditions are met. The more paths available through this kind of code the more likely it becomes we'll create a bad one and fail to anticipate the conditions which trigger it.
- tialaramex 3y ago
  If it's in a language with guaranteed tail recursion optimisation and it's idiomatic in that language (these two things often go together) then fine, seems reasonable, Go With God. Otherwise, nope, I don't care that "I checked and it's optimised correctly". We do not write optimiser dependent code in my house, write something that won't explode messily when we change target or upgrade the tools or whatever and now it stack overflows.
opportune 3y ago
I kind of feel this way sometimes, but some business or even non-business logic will require some inherent minimum amount of cyclomatic complexity. And there is only so much you can do to hide it or spread it around; depending on the specifics it may actually be better to put the whole ugliness in one place I guess that is why it’s a smell and not an anti pattern, but I work in a codebase with a lot of this kinda stuff and as much as I hate the complexity required to read it, I’ve been around long enough to know why all those ifs are there and even added a few myself.

fsckboy 3y ago

> a lot of nested "ifs" with "returns" sprinkled around how do you feel about the code smell of a tail-recursive fizz-buzz?

francoisdevlin 3y ago
Smells like breakfast
DubiousPusher 3y ago
Erase it and do it iteratively like any sane person! Kidding aside, I'm more talking about the kinds of large procedures common to C++ codebases. These involve many sequential state changes which leave lots of opportunities for not initializing things and the like when the right set of conditions are met. The more paths available through this kind of code the more likely it becomes we'll create a bad one and fail to anticipate the conditions which trigger it.
tialaramex 3y ago
If it's in a language with guaranteed tail recursion optimisation and it's idiomatic in that language (these two things often go together) then fine, seems reasonable, Go With God. Otherwise, nope, I don't care that "I checked and it's optimised correctly". We do not write optimiser dependent code in my house, write something that won't explode messily when we change target or upgrade the tools or whatever and now it stack overflows.

opportune 3y ago

I kind of feel this way sometimes, but some business or even non-business logic will require some inherent minimum amount of cyclomatic complexity. And there is only so much you can do to hide it or spread it around; depending on the specifics it may actually be better to put the whole ugliness in one place I guess that is why it’s a smell and not an anti pattern, but I work in a codebase with a lot of this kinda stuff and as much as I hate the complexity required to read it, I’ve been around long enough to know why all those ifs are there and even added a few myself.