Nick Sabalausky wrote:
Once upon a time, there was a book called "Writing Solid Code". It seemed
that anyone who was an established, respectable programmer swore by it and
proclaimed it should be required reading by all programmers. These days, I
sometimes feel like I'm the only one who's ever heard of it (let alone read
it).
So much of the book has made such an impact on me as a programmer, that from
the very first time I ever heard of a language (probably Python) using
"someArray[-5]" to denote an index from the end, I swear, the very first
thought that popped into my head was "Candy-Machine Interface". I instantly
disliked it, and still consider it a misguided design.
For anyone who doesn't see the the problem with Python's negative indicies
(or anyone who wants to delve into one of the forerunners to great books
like "Code Craft" or "The Pragmatic Programmer"), I *highly* recommend
tracking down a copy of "Writing Solid Code" and reading "The One-Function
Memory Manager" and "Wishy-Washy Inputs", both in the "Candy-Machine
Interfaces" chapter.
It's available on safari, for anyone who has a subscription.
http://safari.oreilly.com/
