|
|
|
|
+++
|
|
|
|
|
title = "When I Used PEP8 To Fuck Up Code"
|
|
|
|
|
date = 2016-07-19
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
[taxonomies]
|
|
|
|
|
tags = ["python", "pep8", "readability"]
|
|
|
|
|
+++
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
We "inherited" some Python code recently. Although another team was working on
|
|
|
|
|
it, we now should support it and keep it going. The previous team at least
|
|
|
|
|
tried to use Pylint and follow PEP8. And I say "tried" because their
|
|
|
|
|
`pylintrc` has a couple of exceptions and their PEP8 extended the
|
|
|
|
|
maximum column to 100.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- more -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{% note () %}
|
|
|
|
|
Pylint exceptions are almost common case these days, specially in
|
|
|
|
|
a Django project. But plain, pure `pylintrc` exclusion without giving any
|
|
|
|
|
pointers on *why* you're adding that exception are dumb, IMHO. I had a
|
|
|
|
|
project were we decided to add pylint exceptions inside the code, but for
|
|
|
|
|
every exception there should be a comment preceeding it explaining the
|
|
|
|
|
reason for the exception ("the framework doesn't expose this directly",
|
|
|
|
|
"pylint can't see this variable, but it is there", "It's the common place
|
|
|
|
|
to name the variable this way" and so on).
|
|
|
|
|
{% end %}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick pause here 'cause I know a bunch of people will complain with a "But
|
|
|
|
|
monitors these days are very large and you don't need to focus on column 80;
|
|
|
|
|
we don't use CGA anymore, old person!". The thing about the maximum column at
|
|
|
|
|
80 is *not* about "being visible on every CGA" but actually a measure of
|
|
|
|
|
readability: If you speak shorter, concise sentences, people will get the idea
|
|
|
|
|
quickly; if you keep an stream of words non-stop without reaching a conclusion
|
|
|
|
|
and without any punctuation to keep the ideas flowing, you will end up with
|
|
|
|
|
something that it is easier to forget and which the central idea will be lost
|
|
|
|
|
(and I freaking hope you got what I just did). It's tiring to read a very long
|
|
|
|
|
sentence; it's easy to keep the context on a short sentence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the spirit of "proper" PEP8, I reformatted one of the failing tests
|
|
|
|
|
to follow the 80 column limit. And now the code looks like crap. And
|
|
|
|
|
I'll commit like that. It's not because I hate my coworkers, but to point out
|
|
|
|
|
that, because it's a pain to read, it means the structured of the code is too
|
|
|
|
|
complex. If someone comes and say "damn, this test is hard to read", I'll be
|
|
|
|
|
able to point that it is not the test that it is hard to read, but the code
|
|
|
|
|
that reached the point where its complexity is leaking to the test code; it is
|
|
|
|
|
now a good time to refactor this to simplify things and make them easier to
|
|
|
|
|
read.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{% note() %}
|
|
|
|
|
Actually, the reason for it to fail is too damn fun and worth a proper blog
|
|
|
|
|
post about it. Stay tunned!
|
|
|
|
|
{% end %}
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not that we can simply stop working and fix the damn architecture of it, but we
|
|
|
|
|
can at least keep this beast around till everybody gets pissed and realize it
|
|
|
|
|
*desperately needs* a refactor.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
{% note() %}
|
|
|
|
|
Weird thing, people usually assume some countries are the center of bad code;
|
|
|
|
|
this baseline is coming from a "first world country" and, heck, it has one of
|
|
|
|
|
the worst designs I ever saw. I'll not name names here to protected the (maybe)
|
|
|
|
|
innocent. But in the second week of training, I realized this whole project
|
|
|
|
|
has, at least, 6 months of technical debt already.
|
|
|
|
|
{% end %}
|
