Say it only once
Problems
Bad Responsibilities Assignments
Code Duplication
Maintainability
Single Responsibility Violation.
Copy-pasted code.
Solutions
- Refactor
Sample Code
Wrong
<?
final class SocialNetwork {
function postStatus(string $newStatus) {
if (!$user->isLogged()) {
throw new Exception('User is not logged');
}
///...
}
function uploadProfilePicture(Picture $newPicture) {
if (!$user->isLogged()) {
throw new Exception('User is not logged');
}
///...
}
function sendMessage(User $recipient, Message $messageSend) {
if (!$user->isLogged()) {
throw new Exception('User is not logged');
}
///...
}
}
Right
<?
final class SocialNetwork {
function postStatus(string $newStatus) {
$this->assertUserIsLogged();
///...
}
function uploadProfilePicture(Picture $newPicture) {
$this->assertUserIsLogged();
///...
}
function sendMessage(User $recipient, Message $messageSend) {
$this->assertUserIsLogged();
///...
}
function assertUserIsLogged() {
if (!$this->user->isLogged()) {
throw new Exception('User is not logged');
//This is just a simplification to show the code smell
//Operations should be defined as objects with preconditions etc.
}
}
}
Detection
Some modern linters can detect repeated patterns (not just repeated code) and also while performing our code reviews we can easily detect this problem and ask for a refactor.
Tags
- Code Duplication
Conclusion
Adding a new feature should be straightforward it our model maps 1:1 to real world and our responsibilities are in the correct places.
We should be alert for small changes spanning in several classes.
More info
Credits
Photo by William Isted on Unsplash
Duplication is the primary enemy of a well-designed system.
Robert Martin
Software Engineering Great Quotes
Maxi Contieri ・ Dec 28 '20
This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.