unmaintainable code : Java Glossary

*0-9ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ (all)

woodpecker  unmaintainable code

Introduction

This is my most popular essay. It is amazing how many people don’t realise it is tongue in cheek
woodpecker If builders built buildings the way programmers write programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.
~ Gerald Weinberg (1933-10-27 age:84) Weinberg’s Second Law
Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence.
~ Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-08-15 1821-05-05 age:51)
General Principles Testing The Shoemaker Has No Shoes
Naming Choice of Language Contributors
Camouflage Dealing With Others Operation Termite
Documentation Roll Your Own
Program Design Tricks In Offbeat Languages Links
Coding Obfuscation Miscellaneous Techniques
Ambiguity Philosophy
This essay has been like rock candy, seed the string with sugar, soak in sugar water, soon it grew out of control.

In the interests of creating employment opportunities in the Java programming field, I am passing on these tips from the masters on how to write code that is so difficult to maintain, that the people who come after you will take years to make even the simplest changes. Further, if you follow all these rules religiously, you will even guarantee yourself a lifetime of employment, since no one but you has a hope in hell of maintaining the code. Then again, if you followed all these rules religiously, even you wouldn’t be able to maintain the code!

You don’t want to overdo this. Your code should not look hopelessly unmaintainable, just be that way. Otherwise it stands the risk of being rewritten or refactored.

This giant essay has been split into sections to make it faster to load. The easiest way to navigate is to hit the next page next page button at the bottom left of each page.

Copyright

I would like to remind you this essay is copyrighted material. It is illegal to repost it without permission. I will usually give you that permission if you translate the essay into another language and if you provide a link back to the English-language original. I do this for three reasons.

  1. That way any change I make to the essay is instantly reflected in any English-language copy anyone reads.
  2. That way the formatting and images are preserved. Pirated copies usually screw up the formatting.
  3. Google ad revenue from this essay is the main source of income from the website. It pays to keep me on the air.

Please report any copyright violations.

book cover recommend book⇒AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures and Projects in Crisisto book home
by William J. Brown, Raphael C. Malveau, Hays W. (Skip) McCormick, Thomas J. Mowbray 978-0-471-19713-3 paperback
publisher Wiley 978-0-471-19713-3 hardcover
published 1998-03-20 B000U5M2EM kindle
This is an amusing book that looks at what goes wrong in software development.
Australian flag abe books anz abe books.ca Canadian flag
German flag abe books.de amazon.ca Canadian flag
German flag amazon.de Chapters Indigo Canadian flag
Spanish flag amazon.es Chapters Indigo eBooks Canadian flag
Spanish flag iberlibro.com abe books.com American flag
French flag abe books.fr amazon.com American flag
French flag amazon.fr Barnes & Noble American flag
Italian flag abe books.it Nook at Barnes & Noble American flag
Italian flag amazon.it Kobo American flag
India flag junglee.com Google play American flag
UK flag abe books.co.uk O’Reilly Safari American flag
UK flag amazon.co.uk Powells American flag
UN flag other stores
Greyed out stores probably do not have the item in stock. Try looking for it with a bookfinder.

This page is posted
on the web at:

http://mindprod.com/jgloss/unmain.html

Optional Replicator mirror
of mindprod.com
on local hard disk J:

J:\mindprod\jgloss\unmain.html
Canadian Mind Products
Please the feedback from other visitors, or your own feedback about the site.
Contact Roedy. Please feel free to link to this page without explicit permission.

IP:[65.110.21.43]
Your face IP:[3.148.108.174]
You are visitor number