WTF was I doing?



  • After graduating college with a history major, and having never programmed before, my job required that someone teach themselves how to program, and I was chosen to be that person. Many WTF's were the result of the first few months, including this wonderful bit of code...

    [Quote]
    public void CheckErrors()
            {
                errorProvider1.Clear();

                string org = textBox3.Text.Trim();
                string email = textBox4.Text.Trim();
                string first = textBox5.Text.Trim();
                string last = textBox6.Text.Trim();

                bool o = false;
                bool e = false;
                bool f = false;
                bool l = false;

                if (org != null && org != string.Empty) o = true;
                if (email != null && email != string.Empty) e = true;
                if (first != null && first != string.Empty) f = true;
                if (last != null && last != string.Empty) l = true;

                if (o == true && e == true && f == true && l == true)
                {
                    bool ex = false;

                    ex = nData.Exists("Select * From aztec_Customers Where Organization='" + org + "'");

                    if (ex == true) errorProvider1.SetError(textBox3, "That Organization already exists. Please provide a unique Organization.");
                    else
                    {
                        panel2.Visible = false;
                        panel3.Visible = true;
                        SaveCustomer();
                    }
                }
                else
                {
                    if (o == false) errorProvider1.SetError(textBox3, "Please provide an Organization.");
                    if (e == false) errorProvider1.SetError(textBox4, "Please provide an Email.");
                    if (f == false) errorProvider1.SetError(textBox5, "Please provide a First Name.");
                    if (l == false) errorProvider1.SetError(textBox6, "Please provide a Last Name.");
                }
            }
    [/Quote]



  • Don't ride yourself - everyone's beginning code looks like that. Besides, as beginner (or even professional code, if you look at some of the stuff posted) code goes, it's not soooo bad.



  • yeah, if you cut out half the if statements, and move the bool assignments around a bit, it might actually look good. and it seems to function just fine.



  • Well, apart from the obvious injection vulnerability.



  • injection vulnerability
    complete lack of comments
    use of single letters for variables
    about half of the code is unnecessary
    among other things...


    I went back to fix an issue and I couldnt figure out what I had done for a good while...



  • The worst thing I see here (other than the above mentioned) is that you cram so much on one line.

    if ( )
        <then...>

    Cramming as much code on one line as possible doesn't make it run faster and doesn't make it more readable (even if it makes it all fit on one screen).

    I will say that for a beginner programmer, it is good.



  • @frosty said:

    The worst thing I see here (other than the above mentioned) is that you cram so much on one line.

    if ( )
        <then...>

    Cramming as much code on one line as possible doesn't make it run faster and doesn't make it more readable (even if it makes it all fit on one screen).

    I will say that for a beginner programmer, it is good.

    In some places you also get paid less for it.



  • @AustinW said:

    After graduating college with a history major, and having never programmed before, my job required that someone teach themselves how to program, and I was chosen to be that person. Many WTF's were the result of the first few months, including this wonderful bit of code...

    Here's my version:

    After graduating college with a CS major, and having programmed a lot before, my job required that everyone teach themselves how to program in {languages}.  Many, many, many thousands upon thousands of lines of WTF's  were the result of the first few months...



  • I've spent 16 years writing code in C, C++, and various other languages and every now and again when I look back on something I've written in the past, be it a week or a decade ago, I scratch my head and wonder WTF?!?!?! ... Sometimes we just write bad code because of deadlines, or lack of experience on a given topic, or because of the keg hiding under the desk ... Don't worry, throughout the years to come you will have your many WTF moments on your own code.


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