The Weird and The Wonderful

The Weird and The Wonderful forum is a place to post Coding Horrors, Worst Practices, and the occasional flash of brilliance.

We all come across code that simply boggles the mind. Lazy kludges, embarrassing mistakes, horrid workarounds and developers just not quite getting it. And then somedays we come across - or write - the truly sublime.

Post your Best, your worst, and your most interesting. But please - no programming questions . This forum is purely for amusement and discussions on code snippets. All actual programming questions will be removed.

Re: if .... else case

Lutosław11-Aug-11 23:25

Lutosław

11-Aug-11 23:25

Is it about

FileType=0

being an assignment instead of comparison?

Greetings - Jacek

Re: if .... else case

TorstenFrings12-Aug-11 1:13

TorstenFrings

12-Aug-11 1:13

no, this is the VB way of comparison

Re: if .... else case

Lutosław12-Aug-11 1:44

Lutosław

12-Aug-11 1:44

It seems to be Pascal, not VB. But, in Pascal = is also a comparison, AFAIR. Frankly, I don't see where the horror is.

Greetings - Jacek

Re: if .... else case

TorstenFrings12-Aug-11 1:56

TorstenFrings

12-Aug-11 1:56

omg yes it's PASCAL ... guess the horror is the fact, that there is no need for the outer IF, because it could be handled inside the CASE as well

Re: if .... else case

Colin Mullikin14-Aug-11 18:27

Colin Mullikin

14-Aug-11 18:27

TorstenFrings wrote:
no need for the outer IF, because it could be handled inside the CASE

Yeah, that's it. Having the if instead of just case 0 seems a bit like someone wasn't actually thinking about what they were coding.

The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill

America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde

Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin

Re: if .... else case

Colin Mullikin14-Aug-11 18:28

Colin Mullikin

14-Aug-11 18:28

Jacek Gajek wrote:
It seems to be Pascal, not VB.

It's Delphi. So, you were almost right. Thumbs Up | :thumbsup:

Re: if .... else case

Vladimir Svyatski18-Aug-11 9:42

Vladimir Svyatski

18-Aug-11 9:42

Colin Mullikin wrote:
It's Delphi. So, you were almost right.

He was absolutely right. Delphi is not a programming language, it's IDE just like Visual Studio. Object Pascal is used as a programming language inside. I know what I'm talking about. I had the pleasure of working with Delphi/C++ Builder. It was more than 5 years ago though. I still remember C++ Builder 6. But Borland is dead now Frown | :(

Re: if .... else case

Vladimir Svyatski18-Aug-11 9:30

Vladimir Svyatski

18-Aug-11 9:30

Oh, sh*t, Pascal Smile | :)

Haven't seen it for several years. Is Delphi still alive? Anyway wouldn't it be easier to write something like

Delphi

case FileType of
      0:FileSaveAs(Sender);
      1:SaveCDL(FileName,List);
      2:SaveDXF(FileName,List);
      3:SaveFile(FileName,List);
end;

Or religion doesn't allow? Sorry for possible syntax mistakes. But like I said: I haven't seen it for several years.

modified 6-Aug-12 16:22pm.

Re: if .... else case

Colin Mullikin18-Aug-11 14:05

Colin Mullikin

18-Aug-11 14:05

Yep, you hit the nail on the head with that one. I have no clue why the original programmer didn't do that in the first place. I changed it to that, since it looks much cleaner.

Every line makes me die a little more...

leppie11-Aug-11 0:37

leppie

11-Aug-11 0:37

WTF~!!!!!!!!!!! WTF | :WTF:

var key = "13870";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13886";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13905";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13910";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13918";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13922";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13927";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13930";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13948";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13965";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "13986";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

var key = "14002";
var checkboxName = key + "_Selected";
var commentName = key + "_Comments";
if(document.getElementById(checkboxName).checked == true)
{
   document.getElementById(commentName).value = commentBox.value;
   appliedToCount ++;
}

Update:

This code was in fact generated... Refactoring, thy name is frailty!

((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x)))

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

Shameel11-Aug-11 6:03

Shameel

11-Aug-11 6:03

leppie wrote:
.checked == true

This is an instance of shame within a shame.

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

GibbleCH11-Aug-11 8:48

GibbleCH

11-Aug-11 8:48

I presume each of these duplicated sections was in it's own method, otherwise it won't even compile. Since each var statement keeps declaring variables that are already declared.

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

leppie11-Aug-11 9:10

leppie

11-Aug-11 9:10

It is acceptable javascript.

((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x)))

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

Brady Kelly11-Aug-11 10:29

Brady Kelly

11-Aug-11 10:29

leppie wrote:
This code was in fact generated...

by a generator written by a tool.

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

Allan Thomas12-Aug-11 2:18

Allan Thomas

12-Aug-11 2:18

How about a 13 month KPI that has code that has logic to work out the summary values to be displayed for each month, storing values used elsewhere in seperate variables (not an array) and then having that code duplicated 13 times (with a slight change in variables/controls). It would have been at least 10 pages and all embedded in the click event of the button Frown | :(

.

After checking the code to see if anything else was buried in there I refactored this (with the help of a few functions) into two loops with about a dozen lines total. It helped because a bit later I found two other places where the same thing happened and while the code was different I was able to copy and paste the code and update the loop for the different KPI's.

Re: Every line makes me die a little more...

leppie12-Aug-11 3:45

leppie

12-Aug-11 3:45

Exactly what should have been done.

I see the same pattern as you described.

They use jQuery, so I dont understand why they can't even make it a one liner...

((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x)))

It's a jungle in there

GibbleCH9-Aug-11 5:22

GibbleCH

9-Aug-11 5:22

I was refactoring a horribly written app. Tons of duplicated code. Crazy amounts of dead code (~30-50%). And my personal favourite, was a method that went something like this.

public void Some_Method()
{
    try 
    {

    }
    catch (Exception x)
    {
        LogException(x);
    }
}

Fortunately, or not, this method was never called...but I sure am glad the catch block was there....just in case that empty try block failed.

Re: It's a jungle in there

Shameel9-Aug-11 5:52

Shameel

9-Aug-11 5:52

I would call it a masterpiece. Laugh | :laugh:

Re: It's a jungle in there

StM0n9-Aug-11 6:11

StM0n

9-Aug-11 6:11

The memorial of the never-written-code... with exception-handling

(yes|no|maybe)*

Re: It's a jungle in there

Reiss9-Aug-11 8:42

Reiss

9-Aug-11 8:42

As a consultant I share your pain.

GibbleCH wrote:
Tons of duplicated code. Crazy amounts of dead code (~30-50%)

sounds like it would be quicker to re-write

Re: It's a jungle in there

GibbleCH9-Aug-11 8:46

GibbleCH

9-Aug-11 8:46

Ultimately that was the result. But using lots of unit tests and refactoring to do so. Less error prone, and I was able to ensure functionality remained consistent where it was correct. And some bits of the app did work...

Re: It's a jungle in there

Sander Rossel9-Aug-11 20:26

Sander Rossel

9-Aug-11 20:26

I see the opposite way to often too...

Private Sub DoSomething
   Try
      ' Lots of badly written code inspired by VB6 and earlier here.
   Catch ex As Exception

   End Try

A Try Catch block with no code does no harm, this however... Sigh | :sigh:

Perhaps the empty Catch is also VB6 inspired... OnErrorResumeNext Frown | :(

It's an OO world.

Re: It's a jungle in there

Fabio Franco10-Aug-11 3:47

Fabio Franco

10-Aug-11 3:47

Naerling wrote:
Perhaps the empty Catch is also VB6 inspired... OnErrorResumeNext

Is it just me or everytime someone talks about bad code, "VB" shows up? Sigh | :sigh:

"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" - Homer Simpson

Re: It's a jungle in there

Sander Rossel10-Aug-11 7:47

Sander Rossel

10-Aug-11 7:47

I blame VB 1, 2 and 3.
I was a toddler at that time so I wouldn't know, but this is what I heard.
VB became object oriented at version 4, but to be backwards compatible MS had to support the non-object oriented style.
As a result many VB programmers kept on programming like they always did and still do so today.
Why not C#? Because the first C# came at around the same time as VB4 and was object oriented right from the start.

On a side note, try to call any PUBLIC member of a Form in VB without having an instance of the Form. It will work, you can call them as if they were Shared (static). I recently found out and was shocked, backwards compatibility with VB1... Dead | X|

Anyway, I don't really blame VB, I blame the programmers who were not willing to learn object orientism right after VB3 Sigh | :sigh:

Does that sound about right or am I really way off here?

It's an OO world.

Re: It's a jungle in there

Fabio Franco10-Aug-11 9:25

Fabio Franco

10-Aug-11 9:25

Naerling wrote:
VB became object oriented at version 4

Not fully, still lacked lots of OO principles, even VB 6 (like something as basic as inheritance).

Naerling wrote:
I blame the programmers who were not willing to learn object orientism right
after VB3

I actually seen that in action on VB.Net.

Naerling wrote:
Does that sound about right or am I really way off here?

Yes, it does. But in my opinion that's not the full story and the full story about all the VB infame does not apply to everyone and to all scenarios. But yes, the word VB gives me goose bumps, specially when I learn I have to work with existing code.

"To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems" - Homer Simpson

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