Re: best practice for structure of code

Douglas Ivers wrote:
> If I need to execute a section of code more than once (not in a loop),  
> then I of course create a named method so that I don't have multiple  
> copies of the code.  On the other hand, I sometimes create methods  
> that exist solely for readability and are only called once, see below  
> for example.  Is there any drawback to this style of code?  Are there  
> differences in opinion, or is there a widely accepted best practice?
> 
> public void init() {
> 	parseConfigFile()
> 	loadImages()
> 	loadData()
> 	buildGui()
> }

This is exactly what I do. The code may not initially be written that 
way, but I often refactor to this.

> This often leads to class fields that could otherwise be local  
> variables, which I see as a slight drawback.

It may also be a smell that your class is trying to do too much. The 
Single Responsibility Principle 
(http://www.objectmentor.com/resources/articles/srp.pdf) comes to mind.

> I've also experimented with unnecessary braces to improve readability,  
> but I suspect this is very unconventional.  For example,

I never would have thought about that, but I would tend to be against 
that style.

Bob Martin just wrote a book called "Clean Code" that I just got my copy 
of. It addresses many of these issues. The important thing is that your 
team agree on the standards and be consistent about them.

-- 
Cory Foy
http://www.cornetdesign.com
http://www.agileflorida.com