[DUG] Naming your code and Delphi Help

Sat May 6 10:27:20 NZST 2006

I meant he was a superb programmer seriously and also with a dry sense of
humour - his software worked fantastically, but in no way a team player in
making it easy for anyone to do anything with his code afterwards...

Personally I have tended to rely also on help files (which discuss the sorts
of operations users will follow), and software product descriptions, which
usually should have a good description of how a system is put together.

HELP SYSTEMS
============
Can I put in my hobby horse about help systems, which Delphi needs to do
something about, as well as anyone using any large complex system:  All such
systems need more than a detailed description of what all the menu entries
do, and detailed descriptions of each function.  They also need to have a
different view into the help of guiding a new user who doesn't know where to
look or which commmands to use.  The Delphi 5 Help was better in this than
the D2006 Help (which has gone to more MS layouts).

Example:
In Delphi when I wanted to start doing a lot with file i/o I wanted to read
up the best practice ways of doing this, and see what the main functions
are.  In the Delphi 5 Help I at least found there are 3 main ways of doing
file i/o,
(1-Text File and untyped files,  2-TFileStream,  3-Windows Handles and Win32
API).  However an indepth description of why there are 3 ways and the
advantages of each and info on which approach the typical VCL components use
(eg in loadfromfile methods) would have been useful - I had to trawl though
each to find which looked the most thoroughly implmented and ask others...

In my mind exploring a help system I should be able to find topics like

What grids are best to use,
Best ways to do File i/o
Overview of using DataAware controls
Main points for using the IDE
Power features in the IDE

There is NO way to find help on those topics in the IDE.  It's a mark
against getting a RAD system when you can't find the answer because you
don't know what question to ask ie what word to search for.

I was spoiled in early days by the help on Unix systems - despite its
reputation for unfriendliness the help system had one feature I have yearned
for everywhere else: the apropos command, sort of like a Google on the help.

You could type for instance "apropos network" or "apropos printing" or
"apropos /etc/passwd" and it would list all the help topics and areas that
had information on this, in great concise detail.  The integrated Help
system on a Unix machine can all be searched by one command (packages all
installed their manuals into the systems help folders).

John

-----Original Message-----
From: delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz [mailto:delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz] On
Behalf Of Kyley Harris
Sent: Friday, 5 May 2006 4:28 p.m.
To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: RE: [DUG] Naming your code

You beat me to it. I agree with most of John's statements about headers etc.
and why you cant trust source control unless you will stick with it for life
on the same system.

But Superb Programmer? Perhaps you meant Intelligent Person? There are
plenty of Geniuses, engineers, mathematicians etc, who all code because it
helps their other jobs. Programming is a role itself, that does not require
skills in all these other areas. A Suberb programmer should in the least:

Write clean consistent code.
Write self documenting code.
Also write supplementary comments regarding complex self-documenting code.
Understand the goal, before starting the task. 

A Suberb programmer, does not need to know maths etc. This is all available
in books and specs. A Suberb programmer knows how to take all the bits and
pieces and turn it into maintainable, clean, bug free software. I am
guessing that most Delphi group people are a mixture of Programmer,
Self-manager, etc. Not everyone works corporate. But its important to
distinguish the skill of programming, aside from the skills of other mixed
roles.

-----Original Message-----
From: delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz [mailto:delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz]
On Behalf Of Todd Martin
Sent: Friday, 5 May 2006 3:49 p.m.
To: johnkbird at paradise.net.nz; NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
Subject: Re: [DUG] Naming your code

I assume you're joking. That's not my idea of 'superb programming'.

> The extreme example was one package where the variables had different
names
> and declarations from one program to another, the programmer concerned
wrote
> not one single comment in his code, and liked naming variables with
names
> like B320 B330 B340 etc.  He was a superb programmer who believed code 
> should be read to find what it does, and also liked reading object
files
> directly.....if you are lucky you wouldn't be maintaining his code, it
was
> hard to improve in all senses.
>
> John
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz
[mailto:delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz]
On
> Behalf Of Richard Vowles
> Sent: Friday, 5 May 2006 12:53 p.m.
> To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
> Subject: RE: [DUG] Naming your code
>
>
> It should be in the version control check-in anyway so you know who to 
> blame. The only reason it isn't in my code is I can't be bothered
putting
it
> there. It is there on templated code.
>
> (a dedicated subversion user).
>
> How about people change subject lines to match what we are talking
about.
> ---
> Richard Vowles, Solutions Architect, Borland New Zealand
> email: richard.vowles at borland.com
> phone: +64-9-9184573
> cell: +64-21-467747
> other: MSN richard.vowles at borland.com, skype: rvowles
> blog: http://www.usergroup.org.nz/blogs/selectBlog.html?id=39769
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz
[mailto:delphi-bounces at ns3.123.co.nz]
> On Behalf Of Kyley Harris
> Sent: Thursday, 4 May 2006 11:42 p.m.
> To: NZ Borland Developers Group - Delphi List
> Subject: RE: [DUG] In case you're interested (or buy stuff)
>
> Correct. Many companies that rely on contractors to fulfill work do
not
want
> temp employess, etc to see a name, and go tell the competition who
they
> should contact for good design work. So in that case it is valid to
request
> unsigned work. If you really want to assert that you wrote something.
Get
a
> reference in writing on letterhead that cannot be disputed by future 
> managers, employees etc. Get the letter to state unequivocally what
input
> you had such as design, implementation, delployment. NEVER rely on an 
> interviewer calling someone. I make a point of providing no verbal 
> references unless that person giving the ref would die for me, or
close :D
>
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