[Asterisk-Dev] [Rant] [long] - code style and quality

[Michael Giagnocavo]

>>Steve,
>> the quote was not out of context. I supplied the entire paragraph it came

>>from, and the individual sentence that I replied with it.
>>You may disagree - that is your right.
>>  
>>
>Real code gets messy. It only ends up not being messy if you fight hard 
>against the natural trend. You cut away the paragraph where I considered 
>the trade offs, leaving a very different impression than my full message.

So, can we trim that down to "real code requires work"? 

I don't why you think you're making a point about having to "fight hard".
Yea, being a good developer is hard. In programming, good devs from bad devs
are separated by an order of magnitude at least. I don't think this is news
to anyone. So if everyone knows that "real code is messy unless we do
something about it", why do you jump on someone who encourages doing
something?

>>I count the asterisk project as real code - which is messy.
>>
>Do you have the slightest idea how it came to be? In 1999 there were a 
>number of free telephony projects getting off the ground. Most were pure 
<snip>
>Asterisk software. Most of the other PSTN oriented projects grew out of 
>religious cults. The "pure Java is the way, the truth and the light" 
>cult. The "design is everything" cult. The "polish is paramount" cult. 
>There was a project to do soft modems for FAX that for a couple of years 
>was supposed to be "developing ways to interconnect DSP modules", but 
>projects survived - for example, there is an ISDN PABX still around. 
>Only Asterisk thrived.
>
>So, all the nice tidy projects proved worthless, and the one you 
>criticise is usefully serving the needs of thousands of people. Everyone 
>knows its messy. Anyone who points out that obvious fact in a two page 
>tome is being a PITA. However, where do your priorities lie? Style or 
>content?

And the point was? Luigi was completely right to point out problems in
coding style. I didn't hear him say "Asterisk sucks" or "its not useful".
Pointing out that having, say, a 700-line switch statement is a bad idea is
constructive criticism. Perhaps some people should learn the different
between negative and positive. The OP was quite in the latter.

-Michael