Linus's Laws of Writing Readable Code

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  • Опубліковано 18 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 226

  • @nerdycatgamer
    @nerdycatgamer Місяць тому +55

    1:35 You've got the example wrong. We're not `grep`ing the output of the program for the error message (splitting up the error message in the source code isn't going to cause it to be printed any differently anyways): we're `grep`ing the source code for where that error message is, so we can see under what circumstances it gets printed.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +12

      My understanding is that it’s both. Splitting the error message in the source code will cause the message that is printed to be on multiple lines therefore making filtering logs a bit annoying which is what I was showing in the example.
      The same thing applies in the reverse case when grepping the source code for where the error message is.
      The reason I didn’t put time into explaining that is because most modern logging implementations will have the file and line number etc where the error was thrown in the stack trace so you usually don’t need to grep the source code like you mentioned.

    • @venusearth6682
      @venusearth6682 Місяць тому

      ✅💯

    • @vandelayindustries2971
      @vandelayindustries2971 26 днів тому +9

      @@kantancoding But unlike what you claim in the video, changing it to string concatenations doesn't solve the issue then? Grepping the entire message will not get you the culprit line, because you don't know where to put the "+" in your search string

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  26 днів тому +2

      @@vandelayindustries2971 yes, the solution I provided is for grepping the logs which is imo more important for the reasons I’ve already mentioned above.
      If you want to grep the actual source you will need to keep the log message on one line.

    • @Verrisin
      @Verrisin 23 дні тому +2

      Both is wrong. Use clear uniq tags for each place. - Using the "readable" error message text is horrible for either purpose.

  • @sven-o
    @sven-o Місяць тому +393

    If you care about tab width you got no real issues

    • @DemPilafian
      @DemPilafian Місяць тому +34

      100% correct. That's why all real developers work alone and never share files with anyone.

    • @sven-o
      @sven-o Місяць тому +26

      @@DemPilafian Real devs can just adjust tab width if it really matters to them

    • @jonnyso1
      @jonnyso1 Місяць тому +24

      I agree, the lead maintainer on the Linux Kernel has no real issues to worry about.

    • @dasmonstrum27
      @dasmonstrum27 Місяць тому +4

      No cowboys allowed on my squad, since I've made the pipeline.
      Use Linter or expect an error message blocking merge request.

    • @DemPilafian
      @DemPilafian Місяць тому +9

      @@sven-o In the real world, tabs result in endless problems. There's a reason well-intentioned projects start off with tabs and switch to spaces but never the other way around.

  • @tomershechner
    @tomershechner Місяць тому +26

    Smooth transitions between concepts, meaningful commentary and instructive examples. What a nice video!

  • @cajonesalt0191
    @cajonesalt0191 Місяць тому +91

    I've never really understood the "don't use comments to explain how something works only why it's in the code" argument, but if the example in this video of explaining "how" is what that rule is supposed to stop, then I totally get it now.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +19

      It’s like, if you are spending a lot of time explaining how your code is working… usually (not always but usually) that code is 💩
      So spend the time making the code better instead of explaining how bad code works.

    • @pdgiddie
      @pdgiddie Місяць тому +13

      Writing good code is not just about writing code that works. It needs to lead future maintainers through its intention. That's why naming things well is so important too.

    • @nemanjatrivic9505
      @nemanjatrivic9505 Місяць тому +8

      If you are implementing some known algorythm then just put a comment and link the source, you will do everyone a huge service.

    • @steve-wright-uk
      @steve-wright-uk Місяць тому +10

      Comments are best for WHY not HOW

    • @nemanjatrivic9505
      @nemanjatrivic9505 Місяць тому

      @@steve-wright-uk if you implemented algorythm and didn't invent it yourself, why wouldn't you link the source to help people understand what you did?

  • @spfy
    @spfy Місяць тому +48

    I was confused by what you said about being able to split up lines by concatenating them. In your example, sure, the program output is still in one line so it's possible to use grep. But what if instead, you wanted to find where that error message was in the actual code? Now you can't find it, because it's split up...

    • @christopherjaya342
      @christopherjaya342 Місяць тому +4

      It's a good practice to seperate the log messages strings from the main function by using char * variables.

    • @spideybra
      @spideybra Місяць тому +13

      I'd argue that searching for the message in the source is way more common than grepping a program output. You would usually see the log when inspecting the output after an error, then search for it to find out what went wrong in the code.

    • @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37
      @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37 Місяць тому

      My hope is that in some languages a preprocessor will assemble such split string literals so that one can grep that output instead. I believe this is true for C(++), for example, and I suspect some nonstandard preprocessors are available for others.

  • @PJutch
    @PJutch Місяць тому +25

    I disagree with 8 tabs example. I used to reading code 2 times more zoomed in than an example you've showed. This makes "too far to the right" mark go to, like, 4 levels of indentation. And also you've showed an example in Go which isn't an OOP-obsessed language. In C++ you'll get 3 levels of indentation just from method in a class in a namespace, and having 24 space nothing always at the start of the line seems bad for me.

    • @fuzzy-02
      @fuzzy-02 Місяць тому +4

      Indeed.
      The best advice I learned in coding is that all these programming tips, even languages themselves, are simply philosophies of some person, so don't make them sacred texts.
      My laptop screen isn't thay wide so I also prefer 4 char identations even in a language like Go

    • @fritzschnitzmueller3768
      @fritzschnitzmueller3768 24 дні тому +2

      8 spaces for a tab is criminal - The whole vide is a bit of a stinker as c++ dev ngl

    • @Navhkrin
      @Navhkrin 15 днів тому

      @@fritzschnitzmueller3768 Yeah, it makes no sense, 4 spaces is sweetspot and that is why it is default on most IDEs

  • @magnusmarkling
    @magnusmarkling Місяць тому +60

    How does Linus come into all this? Didn't hear him mentioned even once in the video.

    • @lightningspirith
      @lightningspirith Місяць тому +6

      Never heard him talking about these rules either

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +47

      These are literally all from the linux kernel coding style guidelines which he wrote. www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.html

    • @chrissherlock1748
      @chrissherlock1748 Місяць тому +4

      @@kantancodingouch

    • @maleldil1
      @maleldil1 Місяць тому +15

      @@kantancoding you might want to make it clearer, and perhaps link the style document in the description.

    • @mikebond6328
      @mikebond6328 Місяць тому

      @@maleldil1document.? What’s that?

  • @kipchickensout
    @kipchickensout 19 днів тому +2

    "Don't trust people who don't put swear words in their code comments"
    - Fireship, slightly altered

  • @steinarst9084
    @steinarst9084 27 днів тому +2

    3:45 - "So that how it works, is obvious." - does cool animation with code, proceeds to put ad over code - you villain xD Great video. Loved the bit about indentation.

  • @Rekwalde_PoE
    @Rekwalde_PoE День тому

    I generally think about it like "Will I ever print this code via my printer?", the answer usually gives me clarity on what my print width should be. Because I don't have a printer.

  • @MrHaggyy
    @MrHaggyy 24 дні тому +1

    With comments, it depends on what the code is for. When learning a language, they are a great place to dump ideas. Explain to you what you are trying to do and give each implementation some text what it's actually doing. Helps to understand what the heck you did 3 weeks ago, benchmarking, writing assignments, etc ...
    When writing code that people work with drop the explanation. If you can't read the code you have a skill gap or communication issue in your team. But keep your problem description and the scope of your implementations. For example copy data/error_msg/log to buffer in the string example. When reviewing you can count the occasions where "text" needs to be copied into a buffer and reason about how many "copy to buffer" functions you need. Maybe one is a fast copy of 16 chars for an ID number, while the other copies a name like your version in the video.
    Then there would be code for teaching. In that case, explaining the code is the primary job of comments. But it would be great if more sources were already adding a mature way of commenting and how to work with comments, so people get used to it from the start.

    • @fritzschnitzmueller3768
      @fritzschnitzmueller3768 24 дні тому

      Worst take ever - Bro have you ever worked on a codebase with 40 different other people? If so, and you still say "Dont document bc your code is self explanatory", then you're enjoying pain because let me tell you, the code of the 39 other ppl is most likely not self explanatory in a lot of places. COmments dont hurt. Just be mindful and if you code review, make sure comments are updated. Like yall read to much Uncle Bob and clean code BS

    • @MrHaggyy
      @MrHaggyy 23 дні тому

      @@fritzschnitzmueller3768 You sound fun to work with. Disagreeing with a strong opinion, to claim the same statement.
      While learning a language, commenting on what while(char_ptr++){} does might be a good idea.
      If while(char_ptr++) confuses the heck out of you, you might not be the person to review a large codebase jet.
      If you teach coding explaining what while(char_ptr) does is your job.
      Also if comments are your only source of documentation I'm really glad I never had anything to do with your Uncle Bobby.

    • @fritzschnitzmueller3768
      @fritzschnitzmueller3768 23 дні тому

      @@MrHaggyy It has nothing to do with being fun to work with. Its just that these arguments are just non realistic. EVERYONE I work with would agree, there wouldnt even be an discussion about something so silly. Like do your clean code and stop explaining things. Ive went through it. I have a istory of pushing out a lot of projects in the medTec field, by building upon what others have build. Ive implmented features in others codebases. IT doesnt seem like a lot are doing it, because no one that does the same and knows what hes doing, would claim so. Im just tired of so many opinions without anything to back it up. Its amateurish..It sounds like Im discussing with a bunch of universits students

  • @RavenMobile
    @RavenMobile 25 днів тому +3

    I use 3 spaces for tabs, and keep the code not wider than 80 characters except in special circumstances. If code will be much longer than 1-2 pages, I start refactoring and adding well-named functions.

  • @ktostam3478
    @ktostam3478 Місяць тому +11

    Strangely meditative, straight to the point and so smooth that it doesn't need outline/introductions to connect the topics. Well done!

  • @unexpectedkAs
    @unexpectedkAs Місяць тому +2

    Excellent examples! Usually guidelines are difficult to convey because most examples are too trivia, simple and or unrealistic/ academic.

  • @AlexanderVulpes
    @AlexanderVulpes Місяць тому +3

    I 100% agree about comments, they're supposed to explain the "what" more than the "how". It's a good way to help future devs find bugs too.

  • @mrpocock
    @mrpocock Місяць тому +2

    Tabs depend on the language. For example, it's virtually impossible to code java with 8 space tabs as it is all nested scopes, inner classes and so on. Languages like rust with his pattern matching let you have far fewer nested or changed if statements.

  • @jm-pi1kd
    @jm-pi1kd Місяць тому +2

    aw man, i use different indentations for different languages. i follow the standards. for python, i use 4. for bash, i use 2. for c, i use 8. but it does not really matter. just go to vimrc and change tabstop and shiftwidth and remove expandtab. your identation will automatically update. you might have to :retab if you were using expandtab before. if someone else gives you a project, change your tabstop and shiftwidth to match the indentation of that person's project. if they're using spaces, set expandtab. match your vimrc settings with that project's settings so that everything is uniform and consistent and easy. if youre working on multiple projects with different indentation levels.... then..... if theyre different languages, autocmd will be fine. if theyre the same language, then..... if you know vim, you'll figure it out.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому

      Good points :)

    • @luizAugustoll
      @luizAugustoll Місяць тому

      I didn't know the defualt is 8 in c.

    • @jm-pi1kd
      @jm-pi1kd Місяць тому

      @@luizAugustoll maybe it was 20 years ago. I looked it up today and most people prefer 4 in C today. i don't remember which standard i read, whether it was GNU C Standards or the C used in Linux development but one of the two said to use 8 spaces per tab. the default in vim is definitely 8 though. you'll have to add tabstop and shiftwidth to change it from the default to 4 spaces or 2 spaces.

  • @fg786
    @fg786 Місяць тому +5

    I usually write comments on the how and why when I come back to the code later and can't figure it out in a couple of minutes why I did it this way. I mean it's no big deal, there are additional lines that don't bother performance or disk space at all. An issue arises when it's more comments than lines of actual code, or something along those lines, when the code reading flow is interrupted by comments.

    • @maxsamarin9002
      @maxsamarin9002 Місяць тому +1

      Agreed, I would rephrase the comment tip as "Don't write a long explanation comment if you can rewrite the code to explain itself, and be SHORTER than the long comment". Also assuming that rewriting the code to be longer doesn't increase performance cost. Sometimes smart one-liners aren't there just for the sake of being shorter, but to actually do something in a more performant way.

    • @MortyCJ
      @MortyCJ Місяць тому

      Imo comments aren’t for you. If you need comments to understand your own code there’s other problems happening.

  • @siya.abc123
    @siya.abc123 Місяць тому +9

    2 character indentations are for tiny todo apps. Any large code bases must use 4 characters for legibility

    • @bozdowleder2303
      @bozdowleder2303 Місяць тому

      You only need 4 spaces if you have multiple indentation levels. Otherwise 2 will suffice. It's not about the size of the code as about how many indentation levels exist in the code

    • @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37
      @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37 Місяць тому +1

      ​@@bozdowleder2303The way I see it is even if 2 is good for some people, 4 will only make it more legible. Unless you need to refactor your code.
      But tabs are better anyway.

    • @fritzschnitzmueller3768
      @fritzschnitzmueller3768 24 дні тому

      @@bozdowleder2303 Bro if you have multiple devs working on a codebase you stick with 4 EVERYWHERE. Stop obsessing over indentation. You dont use tabs because you'll end up with different indentations in your whole codebase, since ppl programming on different Operating Systems will use different tabs

  • @MrAbrazildo
    @MrAbrazildo 2 дні тому

    2:40, these cases should be put in array: 15% faster and the code doesn't grows downside too much. C++ example:
    const auto Animals = { "dog", "cat", /**/ "last1" }; // All cases.
    const auto ChosenAnimalPtr = strstr (Animals.data(), tolower (animalType)); // Returns Pointer of the match, not case sensitive.
    // TODO: check for nonmatch (default case).
    const auto ChosenAnimalIndex = std::distance (Animals.data(), ChosenAnimalPtr); // That distance from the beginning is the index.
    ++animalCounts[ChosenAnimalIndex];
    3:53, the previous comments were given a C lesson. I still argue for concise code. So: while (*dest++ = *src++); // Copies string src to dest.

  • @isaiahpan
    @isaiahpan Місяць тому +5

    Hm. I have to disagree with your last point. It is far more useful to describe the "why" rather than the "what". The "what" should be readily obvious if you wrote the code correctly.

    • @sapo-san8054
      @sapo-san8054 27 днів тому +1

      as stated in the video and what I agree with: comments should point out "what the code is supposed to be doing", not "how is it doing it".
      if anyone is questioning "why", then something it's being hardcoded for a VERY specific situation which in my experience is not a great practice yet sometimes it is unavoidable

    • @isaiahpan
      @isaiahpan 27 днів тому

      @@sapo-san8054 I think if you need the "what the code is supposed to be doing" then you've made it too complicated. A function named addTwoNumbers is basically all the "what" that you need already.
      The "why" isn't always needed, but that is info that you cannot get from the code itself. There are often decisions made in the external world that cause a code to be written in one way or another, a common being "this is a temporary addition to allow my boss to display cool metrics to investors" which turns out no so temporary...

    • @kipchickensout
      @kipchickensout 19 днів тому +1

      @@sapo-san8054 It happens more often than one thinks, at least what I saw. For example wWhen you want to parse some IDs and have to do bit manipulations that might look senseless to reviewers if not annotated, or mention why you'd want to use a database transaction in a specific scenario

  • @ewhac
    @ewhac Місяць тому +1

    Your next exercise: Illustrate that your "refactored" string copy routine compiles to the same or better assembly language than the original. Show this is true on all platforms (x86, ARM, RISC-V, 68K, etc.).

  • @tirthasg
    @tirthasg Місяць тому +5

    Off-topic question: What VS Code theme and font are you using? Looks good.

  • @wjrasmussen666
    @wjrasmussen666 Місяць тому +5

    Where is Linus other than in the thumbnail?

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому

      He's literally everywhere since every single one of these are from the linux kernel coding style guidelines which he wrote. www.kernel.org/doc/html/v4.10/process/coding-style.html

  • @ismbks
    @ismbks Місяць тому +3

    would you take a look at bsd kernel guidelines?

    • @ismbks
      @ismbks Місяць тому +2

      by bsd i meant freebsd

  • @I_am_Raziel
    @I_am_Raziel Місяць тому +33

    Tabs with 4 chars configured

    • @liamappleyard6495
      @liamappleyard6495 Місяць тому +1

      Only true answer

    • @ifp5
      @ifp5 Місяць тому +1

      It is much easier to prohibit TABs in your VCS than configure every single editor and utility, given that some of them are 3-rd party and/or not configurable.

    • @MrHerbalite
      @MrHerbalite Місяць тому

      @@ifp5 Dump tools that force you to a certain style. I sure did, and it helped me in many ways. Working on space only projects. Change it to a tabbed one for work, and when committing it, it is being feed back into main using spaces. Everyone is happy. Goes for any other combination of problems. Space|Tab discussions are so last century issues to me.

    • @ewhac
      @ewhac Місяць тому

      Then your editor is mis-configured, and you _will_ have problems when loading other people's code.
      *_Hard TABs are modulo-8. Period. No exceptions._*

    • @I_am_Raziel
      @I_am_Raziel Місяць тому +1

      Tabs are the best, because everyone can configure his IDE to display whatever they need: 1, 2, 4, 8 or something else. You guys can do whatever you like, but for me, THIS is the best when it comes to indentation.

  • @giornikitop5373
    @giornikitop5373 24 дні тому +1

    are we sure that "while (*src++ = *desc++)" will not overflow?

    • @zytr0x108
      @zytr0x108 15 днів тому +1

      It should be
      while (*dest++ = *src++);
      but no, just from that line you can’t be sure.
      A good dev will of course (try to) ensure that the string pointed to by src will NUL-terminate and do so before dest reaches the end of the buffer, but you would need to see the rest of the program to be sure it won’t overflow.

    • @giornikitop5373
      @giornikitop5373 15 днів тому

      @@zytr0x108 oh, yeah, dest=src is the correct. haven't programmed for a long time but it seems to me that this will error out in either case. does it make a difference if it's plain C or C++? will it keep increasing the index of src/dest, until one is out of bounds? where is the condition? meh, can't figure it out. have to start from scratch...

    • @zytr0x108
      @zytr0x108 15 днів тому

      @@giornikitop5373 The whole expression
      *dest++ = *src++
      evaluates to the value of the assignment
      (*src). Since in C the value 0 is
      interpreted as „false“ and every non-zero value as „true“, the while-loop will continue copying until the expression evaluates to 0. This is the case when the byte at the memory address of src is set to 0. Since strings are NUL-terminated (at least they should be) the loop will continue until the end of the source string is reached.
      There are a couple of ways how a memory problem can happen:
      1. Either pointer is a NULL-pointer that will get dereferenced.
      2. Either pointer points to unallocated memory and it will read from/write to potentially critical memory.
      3. src isn’t NUL-terminated. In that case the program will just read memory possibly past the buffer (and maybe read vulnerable data).
      4. src is longer than desc and therefore the loop doesn’t terminate after the end of the dest buffer is reached. The program writes into possibly unallocated memory and maybe even writes to critical variables.
      So more critical than the loop itself is what happens outside of it because that’s where we need to ensure that the pointers that get used are suitable for the operation.

    • @Milan_Openfeint
      @Milan_Openfeint 10 днів тому +1

      @@giornikitop5373 The "result" of operator= is the value being assigned, so the while() tests the character that was just copied. I.e. it will stop after copying the terminating \0 character.

    • @giornikitop5373
      @giornikitop5373 10 днів тому

      @@Milan_Openfeint yeah, i get it now, thanks. the value readed from src (and writen to dst) is the value while checks, i was a bit confused by the pointers and forgot how value assignment works in c.

  • @uumlau
    @uumlau 15 днів тому +1

    If a doofus is going to have 20 levels of indentation, I seriously want only a 2-character indent. I'm the one who has to read the 20 levels of indentation, not the guy who wrote the code. Then I can rewrite it in a sane way.

  • @resresres1
    @resresres1 Місяць тому +2

    What about comments of "i don't know why this piece of code works. DO NOT REMOVE!".

    • @Milan_Openfeint
      @Milan_Openfeint 10 днів тому

      I got used to comments being messages to my future self who will be reading the code. It could be anything from "similar code is over there" to high-level description of what it does.
      Now I work in a bigger company where code has to go through reviews, so many comments get auto-censored. It often pains me knowing what trouble will people have reading the code 10 years from now, but can't help it.

  • @kipchickensout
    @kipchickensout 19 днів тому

    Correct me if I'm wrong, a tab is normally 1 character (9h), not 8
    Almost every code editors I've used so far replaces tabs by 4 spaces by default, so even then they're still not tabs, and most people I have seen coding are at least slightly, if not much more zoomed in than you showed and also have let's say a directory structure open on the left, and e.g. a database table list on the right and a git blame annotation to find out who they have to fire for the awful code (it was themselves two months ago).
    IMO using tabs is bad because in most editors it looks fine but then when you look at it in a browser, boom - your code is suddenly unreadable because it's rendered as 8 spaces
    I personally find it visually better to have 2 spaces in specific things like YAML and JSON

  • @zbynekdolejsek8930
    @zbynekdolejsek8930 Місяць тому +2

    while (*src++ = *desc++); nice buffer overflow ;-) Why not use some secure version strncpy(src, desc, lengthOfDesc);?

    • @adrianbool4568
      @adrianbool4568 Місяць тому +2

      100% agree with your sentiment; although you have your src and "desc" the wrong way round in your call to strncpy()!

    • @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37
      @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37 Місяць тому +1

      snprintf is even better because strncpy doesn't null-terminate in certain cases.

    • @adrianbool4568
      @adrianbool4568 29 днів тому +1

      @@pwhqngl0evzeg7z37 Oh, you are indeed right! I forgot about strncpy's brain dead operation. I note that in MacOS, it warns not to use strncpy instead directing you to use strlcpy instead. strlcpy does the sensible thing of keeping within the given bounds whilst ensuring the NUL is present. However, if I look on local Linux box, that doesn't seem to have strlcpy. :-/ I guess snprintf it is! I tend to use Rust now, so don't need to worry about these particular issues!

  • @DemPilafian
    @DemPilafian Місяць тому +19

    2 spaces requires additional cognitive load to distinguish the nesting level.
    4 spaces is a waste.
    3 spaces is the *ONLY* correct answer.

    • @christernilsson1
      @christernilsson1 Місяць тому +9

      The tab size should be individual. This can be accomplished by using tabs only, never spaces. End of discussion.

    • @DemPilafian
      @DemPilafian Місяць тому +2

      @@christernilsson1 The discussion is over only in fantasies. In the real world, tabs result in endless problems. There's a reason well-intentioned projects start off with tabs and switch to spaces but never the other way around.

    • @christernilsson1
      @christernilsson1 Місяць тому +2

      @@DemPilafian please list the reasons. Here are mine: tabs are easier to insert and delete. Tabs takes less space. Tab width can be individualized. A company can change the standard from four to three spaces with a keystroke. And the main reason: there is nothing left to discuss.

    • @DemPilafian
      @DemPilafian Місяць тому +2

      @@christernilsson1 Tabs are theoretically better than spaces in every way. In practice, however, tabs are a mess.
      1) Web pages and command line tools display tabs with ridiculous amounts of space.
      2) Indentation and alignment are different, and alignment requires spaces which get destroyed by tabs.
      3) For whatever weird reason, experienced smart developers occasionally submit pull requests with some indentation as spaces instead of tabs (the reverse does not happen).
      The real world doesn’t care that tabs are theoretically superior. Engineering managers get tired of tabs interfering with code diffs.

    • @christernilsson1
      @christernilsson1 Місяць тому +1

      @@DemPilafian Copying indented code from different ai:s and other sources will suffer from having different amount of spaces. All tools should be configurable, like VS Code.

  • @lightningspirith
    @lightningspirith Місяць тому +3

    I actually prefer to measure code indentation in pixels because ...

  • @Martin-lc1sk
    @Martin-lc1sk Місяць тому +2

    Code should be consistently fornatted
    Code should be commented
    Code should be concise.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +3

      Consistency, definitely.. the others deserve more explanation :)

    • @HoD999x
      @HoD999x Місяць тому

      Code should work

  • @MisterDan
    @MisterDan Місяць тому +2

    Nicely presented!

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому

      Thanks! And thanks for watching :)

    • @MisterDan
      @MisterDan Місяць тому

      @@kantancoding My pleasure, I write tutorials so I appreciate your work.

  • @thmUNIX
    @thmUNIX Місяць тому

    2:49 I would just use a dictionary in this case. Match one string to another and increment the required value.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +2

      Yeah, but I mean, it was intentionally made like that to illustrate an example of a long function that’s not complex. But thanks for the code review 😂

  • @Veloxzr
    @Veloxzr Місяць тому

    What did you use for the nice code animations?

  • @yusufotar2355
    @yusufotar2355 29 днів тому +1

    whats the name of the font

  • @1schwererziehbar1
    @1schwererziehbar1 28 днів тому

    god created eight character indentation to protect us from excessive nesting.

  • @orbik_fin
    @orbik_fin 25 днів тому

    For best readability we should stop using monospace fonts, so the indentation size could be expressed in pixels, or "em" units. And why does it have to be uniform, or even constant? Editors could very well optimize display for current position so that when you have deeply nested blocks visible, the indent becomes smaller. The religious reverence that people like Linus has for tech traditions can be quite limiting.

    • @the_original_dude
      @the_original_dude 23 дні тому

      nothing stops an editor from "expressing" indentation in anything, so this has nothing to do with fonts.
      Code aligned with tabs can easily be displayed with the indentation (tabs) interpreted any way you want

  • @Fetrovsky
    @Fetrovsky Місяць тому +3

    5 character tabs.

  • @iamsaidumar
    @iamsaidumar Місяць тому

    whats that theme? and what editor?

  • @omegand.
    @omegand. Місяць тому +9

    2:35 yandere dev moment

    • @Tiritto_
      @Tiritto_ Місяць тому +2

      Undertale too

    • @Kerojey
      @Kerojey Місяць тому

      That's how real programmers code, sorry to break it to you, script kiddie

  • @aethernal1379
    @aethernal1379 Місяць тому

    Regarding the long lines issue, what if the problem is caused simply by long variable and/or class NAMES and you can't even sensibly shorten them, because then they'd no longer be clear and precise and so, upon reading the code, you no longer knew what is what?
    So e.g. you have a variable (or a class name) like $aVerySpecificPluginFromAVerySpecificModule that has to be called that, because otherwise it couldn't be differentiated from $anotherVerySpecificPluginFromAnotherVerySpecificModule, and then, in whatever line you need to use this, even if only for something very simple, like a function call without arguments or an assignment or creating a new instance of a class with such a name or whatever, you'll still have a very long line.
    I have yet to see a good solution to this.

  • @dantenotavailable
    @dantenotavailable Місяць тому

    I don't think you go far enough with your point about comments.
    Don't tell me how, don't even tell me what. If I can't get a pretty good idea what some code is trying to achieve by reading it then it's probably no better than the code where the programmer felt the need to say how it works. The point where you need a comment is when you need to explain *why* it is the way it is. For example: "This string copy ends up being used in the render loop so if you don't squeeze literally every cycle the framerate is going to tank". Ok great, now I know that if I apply the code clean up then I need to ensure it optimises to the same code and also where I should probably go check performance before releasing it to production. The key part is that if the code looks out of place then the comment is there to try to convince me that doing it this way, as opposed to the way the rest of the codebase works, was the right thing. (Oh also, interface contracts should be documented as a matter of expectation management but that's not really a "comment" even if they use the same mechanism)
    Also, the right number of spaces that an indent should be is whatever my auto-formatter is configured for and the correct way to get those number of spaces is to use the tab key. Also, if I want to go back to the previous level of indentation, I should be able to press backspace once while at the (indented) start of the line or sometimes shift-tab. To put this another way, the editor should act in every way shape and form as if Tab characters were being used but should only ever write the indent as space characters to the file system. I personally think that 2 characters is too little and 8 characters is probably too much but that's because i'm getting on in years and my eyes don't see as well as they used to but, ultimately, whatever is agreed upon as the auto-formatter settings is the correct value.

  • @ruixue6955
    @ruixue6955 Місяць тому

    2:31 case of long function but acceptable
    2:54 never try to explain how your code works in a comment

  • @sub-harmonik
    @sub-harmonik 25 днів тому

    I disagree with using these examples because there are better ways to do them imo.
    (for instance the switch you can make the 1st character uppercase. Or have an index map, or only have the case statement find the index)

  • @JosephDalrymple
    @JosephDalrymple 29 днів тому

    I know no one wants to restart the whole "tabs vs spaces" argument again, but I still prefer tabs above all else. With tabs, if you like 2-spaces, you can set your tab width to 2. 4 spaces? Set it to 4. 8? Set it to 8. Why force people to have _your_ preferred indentation length? Just use tabs.

    • @the_original_dude
      @the_original_dude 23 дні тому +1

      looking right now at openbsd sources.
      They're using tabs, but for wrapped statements they use a half-tab(4 spaces) indentation.
      It's very messy, they assume tabs are 8 spaces, so there are mistakes and inconsistencies regarding how spaces are used.
      And that's a project that's supposed to have clean code.
      Maybe I don't understand something, but that's an insane code style.
      Totally agree that if you want to have many people working on the same code you should indent only with tabs, and no spaces after tabs for alignment, spaces for alignment can only be in between visible characters.

    • @JosephDalrymple
      @JosephDalrymple 23 дні тому +1

      @@the_original_dude Totally agree 100%. We enforce exactly that at my current company. For multi-line code, either split everything on the line out to new lines with indentation, or keep it all on one-line. There are tons of clean alternatives to the whole "but you need spaces for x, y, or z!" arguments.

  • @tarmagoyf95
    @tarmagoyf95 Місяць тому

    I don't like to have a big switch statements I usually prefer to have map and throw on null

  • @normanross3422
    @normanross3422 6 днів тому

    I've always found comments that tell you "why" rather "how" are much more useful. Mostly I can see "how" the code is working - there's plenty of times though I've wondered WTF!? were they thinking when they did it this way? (There may have been a good reason - or there may not...).

  • @ivanmaglica264
    @ivanmaglica264 15 днів тому

    With HTML, the answer is 2 characters per tab. Nesting is inevitable there 😀

  • @jamesaffleck4192
    @jamesaffleck4192 25 днів тому

    What does this video have to do with Linus Torvalds? The title and thumbnail indicate it would be about HIS rules, but unless i missed something, he's entirely absent and these are your rules.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  25 днів тому

      - “unless i missed something”
      You definitely missed something.

  • @zx-sy1qh
    @zx-sy1qh 24 дні тому

    I use spaces no tabs ! Don't come for me Richard !

  • @UTJK.
    @UTJK. Місяць тому +1

    Ok, but where’s Linus?

    • @MarceloBeckmann
      @MarceloBeckmann Місяць тому

      He is talking about Linux kernel coding style

  • @Nahsh5ba
    @Nahsh5ba Місяць тому +1

    Come on, just set max nesting level in your linter config and it will enforce the rule no matter what tab size is. Really, all of the problems have already been solved by prettiers/formatters and linters.

    • @Hofer2304
      @Hofer2304 Місяць тому

      The compiler should only get successfully linted code. The programmer must not avoid the linter.

  • @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37
    @pwhqngl0evzeg7z37 Місяць тому +1

    I wish more people used tab characters for indentation (with spaces for alignment.) That way the code reader can choose her indentation size by adjusting tab character display width.

  • @yashprogamer647
    @yashprogamer647 Місяць тому

    0.24 it's the one with 4 spaces

  • @TheFrewah
    @TheFrewah Місяць тому +1

    If you use a beautifier, there won’t be any problems. Just make sure same settings are used and run it before before you commit and make sure it compiles.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +2

      If only it were that simple 🫠

    • @TheFrewah
      @TheFrewah Місяць тому

      @ well, it solves many problems. If you don’t like tabs or something, just let it beautify the code to what you like and then beautify back when you check in. That’s what I liked about vb6. Having said that, there were those that wrote horrible code. My c++ code called vb6 code which was very good for what we wanted.

    • @TheFrewah
      @TheFrewah Місяць тому

      @ I should mention some things I really don’t like which are not solved. I really dislike code that is written such that it’s difficult to debug. Don’t use one line to write code that does two things and no nested functions!!. A colleague of mine had a switch statement where only a few cases were considered and there was no default which he claimed would never happen. I did introduce a default and it didn’t take long before it did much to his surprise.

  • @saultube44
    @saultube44 25 днів тому +1

    I'm a 1 character Indentation and Fuk Yoo

  • @anonmousse
    @anonmousse Місяць тому

    someone else who uses agave nf, nice

  • @firstname4337
    @firstname4337 23 дні тому

    I like my indentations to be negative one spaces

  • @venusearth6682
    @venusearth6682 Місяць тому

    I love ur videos 🥰🥰🥰

    • @venusearth6682
      @venusearth6682 Місяць тому

      I watch all commercials too😁❣️

  • @Ryan-gf1sz
    @Ryan-gf1sz Місяць тому +1

    uh, I'm not sure, do you guys think linux code is readable?

  • @poutineausyropderable7108
    @poutineausyropderable7108 Місяць тому +6

    8 char is shit. Because good variable names aren't abreviated.
    So the single
    if ( LongAssVariableName > SomeOtherVariable && LongAssVariableName < TheWidthOfYourMom.InCentimeters() ) { ... } will be too much to the right.
    Also, Im shit language like Java where everything is inside a class... Thats 1 less Identation.

    • @Wutheheooooo
      @Wutheheooooo Місяць тому

      So you maybe only like scripting languages, because functions as entry point is really important because you can't run code all over the place. So is Java, it just use classes instead, not really different. The C entry point must be a function and called main for example, allow the C runtime to do things before run, even assembly need an entry point.

  • @reda29100
    @reda29100 Місяць тому +2

    0:45 let's cut to the chase. How are you going to deal with html and json files then? Scrolling left snd right 5 times a second?
    Having preferences is fine, but claiming they indicate good or bad behavior (as in bad programming habits) is pure nonsense. They're just conventions, and the only downside is they don't work in the outside world. But within a personal project, or a team which agrees upon those conventions, there is not right or wrong style.

    • @funkdefied1
      @funkdefied1 Місяць тому

      There is no HTML or JSON in the Linux kernel source code. 98.3% C, 0.7% assembly, and it just goes down from there.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому +1

      Hmm, JSON isn’t code so I don’t really think these rules apply there. And admittedly, I don’t care enough about HTML to go down that rabbit hole 😂

    • @nerdycatgamer
      @nerdycatgamer Місяць тому

      you shouldn't be using HTML or JSON. They're both mistakes made up to solve problems that don't exist

    • @reda29100
      @reda29100 Місяць тому

      Regardless what you think about these things and whether they are up to the task they're allegedly made to solve, they are still standards in the industry. Whether I, you or they like it or not, they (amd other things you don't like in the industry) are a reality that you, I and he will have to adapt to at some point, at least if we were to engage with the wider audience and teams we're not with at the moment.
      Suppose you're a twch company, need tech workforce, preferably in C, but the entire workforce is too dumb and can only code in [choose a language so that I don't offend you unnecessarily]. And suppose you've been looking desperately for a C programmer for 5 years, and you can't sustain your company anymore (i.e., the ugly reality that json and html are bad solutions and need be disposed of). Do you bet on the utopian programmer that may (i.e., the future in which there would be no json or html, which are the bad inventions the industry adopts today) never come, or adapt to reality, as harsh and ugly it is, and try to make with ehat you got, in the tech workforce market?
      I don't care if json is the worst thing in the world in this regard. What my point is about, is whther you liked it or not, you have to live with it, and adapt, as long as it is going to be the reality for the foreseeable future.
      I haven't worked with html or json much, so I'm not dying on defending this hill, and have no dog in this fight. I am just concerned this self-obsessed attitude still lingers in this community.
      But who am I to envision a society that deviates from normal human behavior? People were, and will ever be believing the sun and the entire universe revolve around their thick skulls.
      Bit sorry to offend you, and I know I'm just a commenter and you are the one who did the work and made the content, but just have some humility.

    • @venusearth6682
      @venusearth6682 Місяць тому +1

      @@kantancoding😂

  • @ZettaiKatsu2013
    @ZettaiKatsu2013 26 днів тому

    Kantan DaYo !

  • @the_original_dude
    @the_original_dude 23 дні тому

    whenever I see code with 2 or 8 space indentation, it's always formatted very weirdly, it's like these people are twisted in their head

  • @EgemenYalın
    @EgemenYalın 21 день тому +1

    3....

  • @laurii0512
    @laurii0512 Місяць тому

    I don't care. I always make sure my code is not an overindented nightmare, and 8 char indentation will still allways feel excessive to me. 4 is perfect for me, I find it readable without being too much.

  • @redcollard3586
    @redcollard3586 Місяць тому

    First of all, it's not actually funny when Linus says nasty things about **anyone who writes code in even a slightly different style then he does** and it's not actually funny when you parrot it, either. He's been working on his attitude in recent years, because he understands how it has hurt the Linux community. You should participate in that reformation.
    Second of all, code styles developed in kernel code in C have a completely different set of requirements than userspace code. Any attempted application of one style to the other should be taken with a massive grain of salt.
    Third, use your IDE to add blank indent markers and they will be easy to see regardless of their width.

  • @doBobro
    @doBobro Місяць тому +1

    I don't think it's a good example of copy-pasted switch case with calculatable keys in a video about readable code.

  • @CartoType
    @CartoType 27 днів тому

    Any argument which describes people as a**holes has me switching off immediately. Don’t do it.

  • @FatherGapon-gw6yo
    @FatherGapon-gw6yo Місяць тому

    1 char is plenty

  • @supericeg5913
    @supericeg5913 Місяць тому +1

    As unreadable as it is, that while loop is pretty genius though, I didn't know assignments return the read/written value like that.

  • @Verrisin
    @Verrisin 23 дні тому

    I disagree with all of those. (senior dev for ctx)
    - Ok, not fully, I get the point ... but this is not a practical way of dealing with the issues.
    - Yes, don't write needlessly smart/complex code, focus on reading, etc. (but explain how it works in a comment if it is an actual non-trivial algorithm. The string copy example is immediately obvious. Explain WHY you wrote something that way, assumptions, why and how you think it works, why it exists at all ... all those are fine, all EXCEPT just saying "this copies string" when THAT is obvious from the code. )
    - I somewhat agree with the logging not having newlines. (but designing it so that you grep for user readable messages is awful ... next year someone will come, add localization, and something down the pipeline will break; as one example. Give each place a proper "place tag" - and of course, those do not have newlines; or even spaces, usually. Or diacritics.. - Not to mention, most (non trivial) important log messages are computed, perhaps with own functions that compose them. There is no place in code with 1:1 message found in log. )

  • @fritzschnitzmueller3768
    @fritzschnitzmueller3768 24 дні тому

    I get it and everything, but if youre in a competent environment, who writes functions with like 8 levels of indentation. Seems like a super constructed university issue

  • @samuraigaming0
    @samuraigaming0 День тому

    tab size 0 is best

  • @Nellak2011
    @Nellak2011 Місяць тому +3

    func doSomething(animalType string) {
    if _, exists := animalCounts[animalType]; exists {
    animalCounts[animalType]++
    }
    }

    • @poutineausyropderable7108
      @poutineausyropderable7108 Місяць тому +3

      It actually does
      animal -> Animal
      (First letter capitalisation)
      if Animal[0] > 'Z'
      Animal[0] += ('A' - 'a');
      The lazy C way. Python is just toHigher()
      Then if exist.

  • @teenriot-de
    @teenriot-de Місяць тому +1

    Linus-Rule 0: Insult people that are not your opponion.

  • @YouPlague
    @YouPlague 28 днів тому

    Completely misunderstood and misquoted the comment rule though.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  28 днів тому

      Seems you’re the one who misunderstood

  • @YLprime
    @YLprime Місяць тому

    Honestly don't think smart code affects readability, if people can't understand a regular function without max 3 lines of hints, it's really a skill issue on their side, unsmarting you code for people who have skill issues is some really unnecessary work. Not being mean just being real, there is nothing wrong with coding smarter. With all the LLMs going on understanding code shouldn't be a problem.

    • @kantancoding
      @kantancoding  Місяць тому

      Not sure what you mean by “smart” code here. To me, “smart” code is simple.

  • @zayamoyatv
    @zayamoyatv 24 дні тому

    its always ok to have long functions, long functions makes code more readable

  • @blobthekat
    @blobthekat Місяць тому

    I am a tabSize: 3 user

  • @canerdemircigm
    @canerdemircigm Місяць тому

    My code style never will be beautiful I know
    funct(abc: xyz) { return }
    funct(abc: xyz) {
    return
    }
    funct(
    abc: xyz,
    klm: nop
    )
    {
    return
    }

  • @genechristiansomoza4931
    @genechristiansomoza4931 Місяць тому

    Clever code is not useful for work. Not readable in one look. Other devs should be able to understand your code clearly for them to update it with confidence.

  • @gcv6761
    @gcv6761 Місяць тому

    tab tab

  • @drancerd
    @drancerd 14 днів тому

    This are F# basic stuffs!!! Why and When programming change so wrong?! JS coders F# the programming basics!

  • @lukaschen6799
    @lukaschen6799 29 днів тому

    Looks like someone never used html😀

  • @ivankudinov4153
    @ivankudinov4153 26 днів тому

    Hype video without any relevant meaning to its title

  • @MarcoAntoniotti
    @MarcoAntoniotti 25 днів тому

    M-C-q

  • @AnythingGodamnit
    @AnythingGodamnit Місяць тому

    Argument falls apart a bit in the context of OO-based UI toolkits where nesting of components is expected to be deep. Yes, one can break apart monolithic components into smaller ones, but even some of the smallest can have a significant depth to their tree.

  • @user-lh3xs9km6z
    @user-lh3xs9km6z Місяць тому +4

    Fourth ban innocent devs because their nationality ...

    • @yjlom
      @yjlom Місяць тому

      that comes from above

    • @user-lh3xs9km6z
      @user-lh3xs9km6z Місяць тому

      @@yjlom SO HE SHOULD HAVE HAD NO ISSUE TELLING THE TRITH ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF HIDING LIKE A COWARD... WITH THE BAN LINUS GET THE VILLAIN STIGMA NOW ...

    • @TheEnmineer
      @TheEnmineer Місяць тому

      Weren't banned, just were removed from the ability to sign off on their own code commits because of increasing geopolitical tensions. Believe me, it's safer for everyone involved when they can't be forced to put a backdoor in Linux.