The Cafes » 2008 » May

This is like one of the old Linux reviews where the mistakes comes faster than I can list them. So please realize, this is only a sampling of what’s wrong, not an exhaustive list.

The first bootup takes several minutes. I have no idea why. It seems to be checking something. Second bootup goes faster.

Why a second bootup so fast? Because it asked me to accept the license agreement for Google Toolbar, and since I don’t want Google watching where I surf, I declined it. For some reason my computer then shuts down without asking me. This also takes a while, long enough to boot up my MacBook and start blogging in fact.
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Here’s part 4 of the ongoing serialization of Refactoring HTML, also available from Amazon and Safari.

There is one critical difference between refactoring in a programming language such as Java and refactoring in a markup language such as HTML. Compared to HTML, Java really hasn’t changed all that much. C++ has changed even less, and C hardly at all. A program written in Java 1.0 still runs pretty much the same as a program written in Java 6. A lot of features have been added to the language, but it has remained more or less the same.

By contrast, HTML and associated technologies have evolved much faster over the same time frame. Today’s HTML is really not the same language as the HTML of 1995. Keywords have been removed. New ones have been added. Syntax and parsing algorithms have changed. Although a modern browser such as Firefox or Internet Explorer 7 can usually make some sense out of an old-fashioned page, you may discover that a lot of things don’t work quite right. Furthermore, entirely new components such as CSS and ECMAScript have been added to the stew that a browser must consume.
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Here’s part 3 of the ongoing serialization of Refactoring HTML, also available from Amazon and Safari.

When should you refactor? When do you say the time has come to put new features on hold while you clean up and get a handle on your legacy code? There are several possible answers to this question, and they are not mutually exclusive.

The first time to refactor is before any redesign. If your site is undergoing a major redevelopment, the first thing you need to do is get its content under control. The first benefit to refactoring at this point is simply that you will create a much more stable base on which to implement the new design. A well-formed, well-organized page is much easier to reformat.
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Here’s part 2 of the ongoing serialization of Refactoring HTML, also available from Amazon and Safari.

How do you know when it’s time to refactor? What are the smells of bad code that should set your nose to twitching? There are quite a few symptoms, but these are some of the smelliest.

Smell: Illegible Code

The most obvious symptom is that you do a View Source on the page and it might as well be written in Greek (unless, of course, you’re working in Greece). Most coders know ugly code when we see it. Ugly code looks ugly. Which would you rather see, Listing 1.1 or Listing 1.2? I don’t think I have to tell you which is uglier, and which is going to be easier to maintain and update.

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Over the next week or two I’m going to serialize the first two chapters Refactoring HTML here. Of course, if you don’t want to wait you can always buy it from Amazon or read it online on Safari. And with that brief commercial announcement out of the way, let us begin:

Refactoring. What is it? Why do it?

In brief, refactoring is the gradual improvement of a code base by making small changes that don’t modify a program’s behavior, usually with the help of some kind of automated tool. The goal of refactoring is to remove the accumulated cruft of years of legacy code and produce cleaner code that is easier to maintain, easier to debug, and easier to add new features to.

Technically, refactoring never actually fixes a bug or adds a feature. However, in practice, when refactoring I almost always uncover bugs that need to be fixed and spot opportunities for new features. Often, refactoring changes difficult problems into tractable and even easy ones. Reorganizing code is the first step in improving it.

If you have the sort of personality that makes you begin a new semester, project, or job by thoroughly cleaning up your workspace, desk, or office, you’ll get this immediately. Refactoring helps you keep the old from getting in the way of the new. It doesn’t let you start from a blank page. Instead, it leaves you with a clean, organized workspace where you can find everything you need, and from which you can move forward.

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