 Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective
started 7/19/2003; 1:34:47 AM - last post 7/19/2003; 9:46:33 PM
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Ehud Lamm - Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective 
7/19/2003; 1:34:47 AM (reads: 1435, responses: 1)
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| Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective |
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Code-reading requires its own set of skills, and the ability to determine which technique you use when is crucial. In this book, Diomidis Spinellis uses more than 600 real-world examples to show you how to identify good (and bad) code: how to read it, what to look for, and how to use this knowledge to improve your own code.
I haven't seen this book yet, but it sounds very interesting. Seems like something I can use in my code reading workshops. So if anyone read the book, please let us know what you think about it.
Interestingly enough, open source projects don't choose programming languages based on readability. This is one of things Ada fans are really frustrated about...
But, to be fair, open source did change some of the dynamics in the programming language market place. More Python and less Java than you would have predicted a couple of years ago. Is readability part of the explanation?
Posted to Misc-Books by Ehud Lamm on 7/19/03; 1:35:18 AM
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Chris Rathman - Re: Code Reading: The Open Source Perspective
7/19/2003; 9:46:33 PM (reads: 606, responses: 0)
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For those who start an open source project, there's really two considerations: (a) do I already know the language; or (b) If I don't, do I want to spend time learning it. It's nice to get money to learn a language you don't know yet, but those opportunities are pretty infrequent. So there is a good deal more latitude in choosing the language that you want to use.
Offhand, though, I don't think readibility is a big part of the equation. Sure, for the bigger projects, where there are large groups of people working and consuming the code, there is an attempt to refine the communication. But the language on these projects are generally in place long before the software became popular or widespread. It's usually an individual or small group of individuals that select the language and get the project off the ground. Once the language is set, the likelihood of changing the it are minimal.
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