Re: C++ Primer ex 4.30

From:
"Jim Langston" <tazmaster@rocketmail.com>
Newsgroups:
comp.lang.c++
Date:
Tue, 24 Jul 2007 17:18:36 -0700
Message-ID:
<cGwpi.162$EG2.126@newsfe04.lga>
"Victor Bazarov" <v.Abazarov@comAcast.net> wrote in message
news:f85sdl$6na$1@news.datemas.de...

Alf P. Steinbach wrote:

* Victor Bazarov:

James Kanze wrote:

On Jul 24, 3:18 pm, "Victor Bazarov" <v.Abaza...@comAcast.net>
wrote: [...]

    std::string s1("first");
    std::string s2("second");
    std::string s3(s1 + " " + s2);
And really there is no sense to have three separate statements
to declare/define those objects (unless your company's stupid
coding standard requires those),

Or unless you want other people to be able to read and maintain
your code. C++ declaration syntax is already bad enough without
abusing it.

so I'd write
    std::string s1("first"), s2("second"), s3(s1 + " " + s2);

So that the first professional who comes along, and is concerned
with maintainability, would have to rewrite it. That's a very
good example of something you should not do.


I just love how easy it is to get into a religious war over a non-
issue like that.


Heya Victor, I think James' follow up was quite reasonable; you was
the one using loaded words like "stupid". And I agree with James. Not
only is the source code more readable with separate declarations,


<shrug>

IMNSHO muliplying 'std::string' like it does in the code fragment above
is NOT more readable, whatever you and James may have to say about it;
everybody's standards of readability are different.

There has to be a significant number of people agreeing with some
point of view to make that point of view reasonable. As to loadedness
of any words you choose to pick on, I've dealt with enough coding
standards to have my opinion on them and to be able to call some of
them stupid. I am not going to continue this.

it's also a convention that helps avoid some simple errors, it better
supports editing, and it better supports debugging because you can
run up to a given declaration, so it's not religious, just what's
practical in C++.


It's a *style* issue. Of course it *is* religious.


Personally, I also break up declarations on each line. Its not as easy to
see each one, and some can cause confusion. Such as:
char* a, b, c;

Also, lines can tend to get long with initialization etc.. and it can get
confusing as to what is being declared.

I agree, however, that it is a style issue.

Calling a style issue you don't agree with as "stupid", however, does make
it a religious issue.

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