Just back from QCon London and taking the day off (another one of those "use 'em or lose 'em" days). I'll say more about QCon in a separate entry, but I wanted to mention something that came up there but which has been playing on my mind for a while anyway: the art of beautiful code and refactoring. I heard a number of people saying that you shouldn't touch a programming language if you can't (easily) refactor applications written using it. I've heard similar arguments before, which comes back to the IDEs available. I'd always taken this as more of a personal preference than any kind of Fundamental Law, and maybe that (personal preference) is how many people mean it. However, listening to some at QCon it's starting to border on the latter, which really started me thinking.
Maybe it's just me, but I've never consciously factored in the question "Can I refactor my code?" when choosing a language for a particular problem. I think that's because when I started using computers you only had batch processing (OK, when I really started we were using punch card and paper-tape, but let's gloss over that one). Time between submitting and compiling was typically half an hour, not including the 6 floors you had to descend (and subsequently ascend). So you tried to get your programs correct as quickly as possible, or developed very good calf muscles! Refactoring wasn't possible back then, but even if it was I don't think most of us would have bothered because of the batch system implications.
I try (and fail sometimes) to get the structure of my programs right at the start, so even today I typically don't make use of refactoring in my IDE. (Hey, it's only recently that I stopped using emacs as my de-facto editor, just to shut up others!) But this is where I came in: it's a personal thing. Your mileage may vary and whatever you need to do to help you get by is fine, surely? Why should it be the subject of yet another fierce industry battle? Are we really so short of things to do that we have to create these sorts of opportunities?
Oh well, time to take the day off.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
It seems some people do have too much time on their hands ;) I think people mean automated refactorings when they are arguing this point?
Some would argue that dense languages like Haskell require no IDE (and you could almost call a pimped out emacs and IDE anyway).
But modern IDEs make otherwise painfully verbose and boilerplate languages like Java bearable and productive.
Post a Comment