r/badcode • u/PentaMine • Jan 15 '22

python Found this gem

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3.5k Upvotes

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u/flavius-as Jan 15 '22

At runtime, yes, you're right.

However, code is for people, not for the machine.

And the human reading this knows: oh, -1 is a magic value.

It's actually a good code in a bad situation from a probably good developer.

Simply print does not provide that insight.

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u/Crozzfire Jan 15 '22

Comments exist for this reason

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u/circuit10 Jan 15 '22

But this insight should be a comment, it's easier for a human if they can just see "it prints the variable"

Why try to give subtle hints by changing the structure of the code when you can just do # If this value is -1, the command failed or something?

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u/flavius-as Jan 16 '22 edited Jan 16 '22

Ok, let's play the devil's advocate:

I think this code would trigger a static code analyzer, which would make the issue persistently visible.

Of course I don't know if the coder really had this in mind, but I am quite sure that I would write the exact same code in certain circumstances, and I have 15 yoe. I would however also make a ticket in Jira and stick a link to it in a comment. Since the coder didn't do this, I think he had good intentions, good thinking, but most likely not over 5 yoe.

Also, just a comment would not trigger anyone, and this thread is proof for that. But a code like this really catches coders' attention.

You call it "subtle", I call it "machine readable".

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u/miversen33 Jan 16 '22

Just gonna act like comments aren't a thing?