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To DRY or not to DRY
(lemmy.ml)
Post funny things about programming here! (Or just rant about your favourite programming language.)
I don't get it, what's so bad about boilerplate?
Found the Java developer.
https://lemmy.world/comment/13098712
dis 'bout you?
Ah, yes, that's much more readable.
Sure, though you’re arguing against an entirely different thing. Nobody said writing code is bad.
well why is it good? why not just assume the boilerplate as the default and require the user to override it if they want to do something fancy?
it's just busywork to always need to write the same stuff, and it also makes the code less readable and many people look at all that boilerplate and nope the fuck out.
This is why python is so good for getting people to realize that programming isn't magic, you just write the equivalent of one short sentence and BAM text in the terminal, no need to import the basic ability to print text which is so incredibly inane.
It's boring to write
It's the most boring thing of the technical side of the job especially at the more senior levels because it's so mindnumbingly simple, uses a significant proportion of development time and is usually what ends up having to be redone if there are small changes in things like input or output interfaces (i.e. adding, removing or changing data fields) which is why it's probably one of the main elements in making maintaining and updating code already in Production a far less pleasant side of job than the actual creation of the application/system is.
Boilerplate is bad because it's fundamentally just noise. When you read the code you want to be able to tell what the purpose of the code is and what the problem it solves. Ideally, code should be expressing that as clearly as possible. Having a lot of boilerplate is typically an indication that the language semantics don't allow you to express the solution in a clear way and you have to write a lot of incidental code. The more code you have to read the more cognitive overhead there is in understanding it and keeping it all in your head.