Sorry, but this:

I've had many functions run to 10 or more pages. I'll chalk that up to engineering versus computer science, but others may disagree.

touched a nerve. So:

<rant>

I used to work for a company offering streaming video to hand-held devices. I worked mostly on the codec, but at one point I was given the job of refactoring the top-level code of the video player.

This code was mostly a single function stretching over several pages, and had been written and maintained by a single programmer. Took me a while to figure out what it was doing, but I was able to re-factor it into reasonably-sized functions. And in the process I discovered redundancies which the author hadn’t noticed. (And no-one else would be likely to notice them, since no-one else could really follow his code!)

Now to the point: What has any of this to do with “engineering versus computer science”? Who would rate a civil engineer who designs a bridge to carry the needed loads but uses materials which wear out in a few months? (Except, of course, in special circumstances, such as in wartime.) Well then, why would any software engineer prefer monolithic spaghetti-code to modular code which is clear, maintainable, and extensible? I confess — I just don’t get it.

In my opinion, the whole engineering vs. computer science contest is a myth. The two sides come at problems from different angles, but as a rule they end up in the same place: namely, the realm of good craftsmanship and common sense.

</rant>

Just my 2¢.

Athanasius <°(((>< contra mundum

In reply to Re: Old NumberCrunching Modules by Athanasius
in thread Old NumberCrunching Modules by Anonymous Monk

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