On Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:42:17 -0400, Alexander Belopolsky
<alexander.belopol...@gmail.com> wrote:
> ..
> >>> I agree with Georg: "if ('u' == typecode)" is not well readable,
> >>> since you usually put the variable part on the left and the constant
> >>> part on the right of an equal comparison.
>
> I appear to be in the minority here, but this particular example does
> not strike me as egregiously unreadable. To the contrary, by bringing
> the constant to the front, this form saves me from having to read to
> the end of the line. The same mental economy appears when constants
> are brought to the front of chained if-elif cases in Python:
>
> if 'a' == typecode:
> ..
> elif 'b' == typecode:
> ..
>
> is slightly more readable than the more traditional alternative.
> Probably because I can mentally ignore the "== typecode" part and see
> the switch structure more clearly.
I don't do much C coding, so I don't have the right to an opinion on
that (FWIW, I find constant-first jarring). But I'd hate to see the
above in python code. The fact that you like it because it makes it
easier to read as a switch-like statement should instead tell you that
it is time to refactor the code.
--
R. David Murray http://www.bitdance.com
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