"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Friday, January 30, 2004

Descriptive Temporary

Michael is examining some code in Smalltalk and C. Here it is...

" The original Smalltalk example. "
canvas displayLineFrom: (topPoint x - gibDistance @ topPoint y) to: (topPoint + 1).


/* The original C example. */
canvas.displayLineFrom_to( Point.asPoint(topPoint.x() - gibDistance, topPoint.y()), topPoint.MoveBy(1,1));

I would not hesitate to use the "Descriptive Temporary" pattern. (Is there one? Maybe there should be.) Taking this to the extreme, I might end up with something like the following in Smalltalk and C, respectively. Keeping to short methods, I would not have much more code than this in a single method or function. I think this style, while longer, is easier on my brain...


" The Smalltalk example with descriptive temporaries. "
x := topPoint x - gibDistance
y := topPoint y
lineBegin := x @ y
lineEnd := topPoint + 1
canvas displayLineFrom: lineBegin to: lineEnd.


/* The C example with descriptive temporaries. */
int x = topPoint.x() - gibDistance;
int y = topPoint.y();
Point lineBegin = new Point(x, y);
Point lineEnd = topPoint.MoveBy(1, 1);
canvas.displayLineFrom_to(lineBegin, lineEnd);

Now, this also has the effect of making Smalltalk more readable than C since there is less line noise. But I learned Smalltalk before I learned C.

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Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.