Re: Reference question
On 2009-01-29 10:43:18 -0500, Jeff Schwab <jeff@schwabcenter.com> said:
Pete Becker wrote:
I don't see how changing Molecule_type to Molecule::Type relieves the problem.
Within the set of code that works with Molecules, you only have to call
it Type. (I'm not in love with that name, either.) This avoids the
long names (which neither you nor I seem to like very much), without
the need for abbreviating the English words used in those names.
Right. Except when there's more than one namespace that has a name
Type, in which case you're right back to qualified names.
The problem with long names in inherent: they're long. And when you
stack several long names together you end up with an abomination.
using Molecule::Type;
Or, better:
using chemistry::molecule;
Or, if the code that works with the type in question is sufficiently
generic (unlikely in the case of molecules), pass it as a template
argument.
When a single piece of code has to reach into many different
namespaces, or use codes with many different prefixes (e.g. Mol), one
suspects that the code lacks appropriate domain abstractions. I
realize that sounds foofy, but like it or not, maintaining non-trivial
code always requires some understanding of the application domain, and
it's very helpful if the code has been factored to fit that domain.
How would you refactor a name like time_since_epoch(), which takes up
20% of my line every time I have to use it? Oh, and I can't change it:
it's part of the interface to a library that I don't control.
There are lots of "greedy algorithms" for making code slightly less
verbose, without refactoring: Abbreviating identifiers, using two-space
indentation, cramming each inline function definition or if-statement
onto a single line, etc. I am convinced that these things just make
the code harder to maintain in the long run. Code that has to last,
and grow, and change, looks very different from the kind of code that
wins prizes on TopCoder.
I don't know what "TopCoder" is. I know that when I write code that
uses libraries whose interfaces were designed with "use long names" the
result is unreadable.
--
Pete
Roundhouse Consulting, Ltd. (www.versatilecoding.com) Author of "The
Standard C++ Library Extensions: a Tutorial and Reference
(www.petebecker.com/tr1book)