Breaking the code to favor readability asks for refactor.

TL;DR Don't add empty lines to your methods. Extract them!

Problems

• Readability

• Kiss

• Low Reuse

Solutions

1. Extract Method

2. Refactor

3. Remove unneeded lines.

Sample Code

Wrong

<?

function translateFile() {
    $this->buildFilename();
    $this->readFile();
    $this->assertFileContentsAreOk();
    //A lot of lines more

    //Empty space to pause definition    
    $this->translateHiperLinks();
    $this->translateMetadata();
    $this->translatePlainText();

    //Yet Another empty space
    $this->generateStats();
    $this->saveFileContents();
    //A lot of more lines
}

Right

<?

function translateFile() {
    $this->readFileToMemoy();
    $this->translateContents();
    $this->saveFileContents();  
}

Detection

This is a policy smell. Every linter can detect blank lines and warn us.

Tags

• Readability

• Long Methods

Conclusion

Empty lines are harmless, but show us an opportunity to break the code into small steps.

If you break your code with comments, it is also a code smell asking for a refactor.

Relations

Code Smell 03 - Functions Are Too Long

Maxi Contieri ・ Oct 22 '20

#codenewbie #beginners #programming #100daysofcode

Credits

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

It’s OK to figure out murder mysteries, but you shouldn’t need to figure out code. You should be able to read it.

Steve McConnell

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