Parentheses are free of charge. Aren't they?

TL;DR: Use as few parentheses as possible.

Problems

• Readability

• Syntactic complexity

Solutions

1. Remove all not necessary parentheses

Context

We read code from left to right (at least in western culture).

Parentheses often break this flow, adding cognitive complexity

Sample Code

Wrong

schwarzschild = ((((2 * GRAVITATION_CONSTANT)) * mass) / ((LIGHT_SPEED ** 2)))

Right

schwarzschild = (2 * GRAVITATION_CONSTANT * mass) / (LIGHT_SPEED ** 2)

Detection

[X] Automatic

This is a fully automated code smell.

It is based on syntax trees.

Many tools detect it.

Exceptions

On some complex formulas, we can add extra parenthesis for terms readability.

Tags

• Readability

• Bloaters

Relations

Code Smell 02 - Constants and Magic Numbers

Maxi Contieri ・ Oct 21 '20

#beginners #codenewbie #100daysofcode #codequality

Conclusion

We write code once and read it too many times.

Readability is king.

Disclaimer

Code Smells are just my opinion.

Credits

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

If someone claims to have the perfect programming language, he is either a fool or a salesman or both.

Bjarne Stroustrup

Software Engineering Great Quotes

Maxi Contieri ・ Dec 28 '20

#codenewbie #programming #quotes #software

This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.

How to Find the Stinky parts of your Code

Maxi Contieri ・ May 21 '21

#codenewbie #tutorial #codequality #beginners