Author: James Robertson
Date: 17:22:31 10/24/98
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On October 24, 1998 at 13:01:40, David Eppstein wrote: >On October 23, 1998 at 21:04:00, James Robertson wrote: > >>On October 23, 1998 at 18:12:10, Bruce Moreland wrote: >> >>> >>>On October 23, 1998 at 17:35:39, Roberto Waldteufel wrote: >>> >>>>Yes, this makes perfect sense to me now, because I have somewhere between 10000 >>>>and 15000 lines of code that was *not* designed for change! But thanks for the >>>>tip - I will try to keep it in mind in future. Well, I guess I learned my lesson >>>>the hard way. Very often I have sections of code that appear many times in the >>>>program, but with minor differences each time, so that when I wrote it I tended >>>>to use cut and paste, editing the minor differences by hand, rather than macros. >>>>Now I have to live with this monster! >>> >>>Premature optimization is one of the deadly sins of software engineering. >>> >>>bruce >> >>My code is very optimized, and I haven't even gotton a useful check-evasion >>function..... Things may blow up very badly soon when I try to change >>something..... I guess I will have to think about more macros and stuff. One of >>the drawbacks of teaching yourself to program..... you have no clue as to the >>conventions and general wisdom of programming!!! >> >>James > >Sometimes the right thing to do is throw away all your code and start from >scratch. That I have done 8(!!) times. My first 2 versions were in Basic; then in C; then I rewrote my C in C++ console; then my C++ with MFC; then my MFC back to C++ console; then back to MFC, but with assembler, and finally, I have settled on a C++ and assembly console program that is winboard compatible. Every time I rewrote I learned something new; my program has evolved dramatically, and I have learned an incredible amount about C++ programming (from a non-professional programmer's point of view). All in all, it is the second most fun thing I have done in my life. The only thing I like more is my planned career. :) James >It sounds painful, but the third or fourth time you do this you >should >end up with a system where all the major irrevocable design decisions were made >better. (The second time, well...there is something called "second system >syndrome" where you throw in every possible feature, and end up with a mess.)
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