On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 4:35 AM, Caleb James DeLisle <calebdeli...@lavabit.com> wrote: > I have found that I like static private functions because they allow me to > make promises about my code, making it more self explanatory and I was > interested in opinions from others about it. > It's not something I would want to force on other people but I would use it > myself if people don't think it's too messy. > > Reasoning: > A private method which does not touch any state of the is easy to review, it > has no side channels to modify or access information so: > #1 with the same inputs it will always give the same output. > #2 it will not affect the world around it aside from it's inputs and output > (no surprise side effects). > By declaring the private method static, you make that promise and the > compiler will hold you to it. > As a reviewer I can let my guard down when looking at the code because it > doesn't affect object state so it can't be the source of some types of bugs. > The code is sandboxed so to speak. > These assumptions do not hold true if static variables are used but I believe > those should never be used unless absolutely necessary and when they are, > code should be reviewed more closely anyway. > > Example: > https://github.com/xwiki/xwiki-rendering/blob/master/xwiki-rendering-transformations/xwiki-rendering-transformation-icon/src/main/java/org/xwiki/rendering/internal/transformation/icon/IconTransformation.java > > If I were writing this now, I would be tempted to make these into static > functions: > private Block convertToDeepTree(Block sourceTree, String iconName) > private void mergeTree(Block targetTree, Block sourceTree) > private int indexOf(List<Block> targetBlocks, Block block) > private boolean blockEquals(Block target, Block source) > > > Anyone have any thoughts on this pattern? > Private static methods without side effects... looks like you're promoting a kind of functional programming style :) Which is good imho.
-Fabio > Caleb > > _______________________________________________ > devs mailing list > devs@xwiki.org > http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs > _______________________________________________ devs mailing list devs@xwiki.org http://lists.xwiki.org/mailman/listinfo/devs
