Rules of Three

Lightning talk at WindyCityRails 2012, Sept. 7 2012

Transcript

1. We make Photoshop™. The web’s best fonts. I like pie. @ddemaree
2. REFACTORING PREFACTORING VS
3. Don’t Repeat Yourself Too much abstraction VS
4. THE PROBLEM It’s really easy to convince yourself that today’s code will be more complex in the future, and design for that.
5. THE PROBLEM It’s really easy to convince yourself that today’s code will be more complex in the future, and design for that.
6. When is it time to refactor?
7. When is it not time to refactor?
8. Rules of thumb
9. The Rule of Three “Code can be copied once, but that when the same code is used three times, it should be extracted into a new procedure.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(computer_programming) 1 2 3 A A A A
10. def foo # Does some stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end OK
11. def foo # Does some stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end OK def bar # Does some other stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end ❓ STILL OK
12. def foo # Does some stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end OK def bar # Does some other stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end ❓ STILL OK def baz # Does yet other stuff ... if @user.status == :active @user.status = :inactive @user.save! end end ⚠ JANKY
13. def deactivate_user(user) if user.status == :active user.status = :inactive user.save! end end def foo # Does some stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end def bar # Does some other stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end def baz # Does yet other stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end
14. def deactivate_user(user) if user.status == :active user.status = :inactive user.save! end end def foo # Does some stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end def bar # Does some other stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end def baz # Does yet other stuff ... deactivate_user(@user) end This is better code BUT Resist the temptation to do this until you really have repeated yourself three times
15. Three of a Kind Three or more related methods/symbols can be meaningfully grouped together
16. class User < ActiveRecord::Base def adobe_profile AdobeId::Profile.new(self.adobe_profile_id) end def connected_to_adobe_profile? !self.adobe_profile_id.nil? end end
17. class User < ActiveRecord::Base def adobe_profile AdobeId::Profile.new(self.adobe_profile_id) end def connected_to_adobe_profile? !self.adobe_profile_id.nil? end end def connect_to_adobe_profile(profile_obj) self.adobe_profile_id = profile_obj.id self.email_unique = false save end ❓
18. class User < ActiveRecord::Base def adobe_profile AdobeId::Profile.new(self.adobe_profile_id) end def connected_to_adobe_profile? !self.adobe_profile_id.nil? end end def connect_to_adobe_profile(profile_obj) self.adobe_profile_id = profile_obj.id self.email_unique = false save end ❓ def disconnect_adobe_profile self.adobe_profile_id = nil self.email_unique = true save end ⚠
19. module UserAdobeProfile def adobe_profile AdobeId::Profile.new(self.adobe_profile_id) end def connected_to_adobe_profile? !self.adobe_profile_id.nil? end # Anything else pertaining to users' # Adobe profiles … end class User < ActiveRecord::Base include UserAdobeProfile end
20. No Assumptions You don’t know what you know until you know it. ⚠
21. I believe writing a truly reusable class is an order of magnitude harder than writing a single use class. Sometimes the right thing to do is resist the urge to write "general purpose" solutions. “ ” http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2004/09/the-delusion-of-reuse.html JEFF ATWOOD:
22. PREFACTORING ␡ It’s awesome.
23. ✉ ddemaree@adobe.com  @ddemaree  log.demaree.me
24. It will not surprise you to learn that WE ARE HIRING http://bit.ly/typekitrailsjob or just come talk to me