Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Period Programming

Hired by Massive Mutual Insurance Company to bring some outside knowledge to a rather inbred set of programmers, I compiled an all-new program incorporating the latest thinking, and gave compile listings to each member of the Code Review Committee.

Reviewer #1: You didn't end every line of code with a period.

Me: They aren't necessary.

Reviewer #2: Yes they are. The standard says to put a period at the end of every line of code.

Me: OK, but we should change the standard to require a period only where it would have a functional purpose.

Reviewer #3: They do have a functional purpose. They show where the line of code ends.

Me: The end of the line shows where the line of code ends. Using a period to denote the end of a line of code is a leftover from when you might put multiple lines of code on a single punch card. We don't use punch cards anymore, so the period does nothing except require an extra keystroke in every line of code.

Junior Coder Fresh Out Of School: I don't think your program would even compile the way you have it.

All Others (looking at the compile listing in their hands): That's right, it wouldn't even compile.

Me (looking at the compile listings that have just been proven by irrefutable logic not to exist): "..."

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