Writing Comprehensible Code

luca wrote:

>for eXtreme Programmers code is the ultimate documentation,
>so it does have to be comprehensible
>
I guess I should have included a :-)  -- the comment about "we wouldn't 
call it code" is a "geek humor" standard along the lines of "BASIC is a 
bug with syntax," or "Strong typing is for people with weak memories."

One of the design goals of COBOL was that the statements resemble plain 
English for the very reason of having the code be its own 
documentation.  So, instead of:

    foo += bar

You'd have:

    ADD BAR TO FOO

(Or something like that.)  Java code that follows common naming and 
formatting conventions is almost always comprehensible.  It annoys me 
when people compare Java to C++ in this regard.  Consider the "foo += 
bar" expression above; you don't have to look far to determine _exactly_ 
what statement does.  In C++, it could literally do anything, and 
finding out what could take a considerable effort.

-- Charles


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