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Want clean code? Stop using the editor.

by: eric | December 21st, 2007 |

Recently I was adding some accessors to a ruby class on the fly, and I kept getting confused by this block:

eval <<-eof def>

The code isn’t particularly complicated, just creating a quick accessor to get at the underlying hash. Yet I had a couple bugs simply because without the editor to give me hints, the code was that much harder to follow. This turns out to be a blessing in disguise, as I am forced to write extremely clean code just to keep from confusing myself. Opening up the String class cleans this up a bit, and removes duplication:

eval <<-eof def>

There much better. So the next time you think your code isn’t as clear as it could be, or maybe if you think it’s perfect, try reading it without any syntax highlighting. If you can still follow it quickly and easily, then maybe it doesn’t entirely suck.

3 Responses to “Want clean code? Stop using the editor.”

1. Matt S Trout Says:
   October 18th, 2008 at 06:32 PM I'm not sure I understand why you need string eval for this - in perl I'd be writing something like

   *{$mangled_mode} = sub {
     my $self = shift;
     $self->additional_fields
             ->{payment_modes}
             ->{$mangled_mode};
   };
   

   and the $mangled_mode variable would be lexically captured by the sub {} block - can't you use a similar closure trick to clean up the ruby?
2. propanbutan Says:
   October 18th, 2008 at 06:32 PM want a readable blog? stop using black text on dark grey background.
3. Martin DeMello Says:
   October 18th, 2008 at 06:32 PM @Matt: No, in Ruby a def foo ... end block gets evaluated at read time, and foo is treated by the parser as a string literal. There are ways to dynamically define a method that don't involve string evaluation, but they involve a call to a "define_method" method, which is passed a closure containing the code that forms the method body, which can lead to some unfortunate scoping effects.

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