Aggregator

Today, Reginald approaches us for a confession.

He writes:

I've no idea where I "copied" this code from five years ago. The purpose of this code was to filter out Maps and Collections Maybe the intention was to avoid a recursive implementation by an endless loop? I am shocked that I wrote such code.

Well, that doesn't bode well, Reginald. Let's take a look at this Java snippet:

/** * * @param input * @return */ protected Map rearrangeMap(Map input) { Map retMap = new HashMap(); if (input != null && !input.isEmpty()) { Iterator it = input.keySet().iterator(); while (true) { String key; Object obj; do { do { if (!it.hasNext()) { } key = (String) it.next(); } while (input.get(key) instanceof Map); obj = input.get(key); } while (obj instanceof Boolean && ((Boolean) obj).equals(Boolean.FALSE)); if (obj != null) { retMap.put(key, obj); return retMap; } } } else { return retMap; } }

The first thing that leaps out is that this is a non-generic Map, which is always a code smell, but I suspect that's the least of our problems.

We start by verifying that the input Map exists and contains data. If the input is null or empty, we return it. In our main branch, we create an iterator across the keys, before ethering a while(true) loop. So far so bad

Then we enter a pair of nested do loops. Which definitely hints that we've gone off the edge of the map here. In the inner most loop, we do a check- if there isn't a next element in the iterator, we… do absolutely nothing. Whether there is or isn't an element, we advance to the next element, risking a NoSuchElementException. We do this while the key points to an instance of Map. As always, an instanceof check is a nauseating code stench.

Okay, so the inner loop skips across any keys that point to maps, and throws an exception when it gets to the end of the list.

The surrounding loop skips over every key that is a boolean value that is also false.

If we find anything which isn't a Map and isn't a false Boolean and isn't null, we put it in our retMap and return it.

This function finds the first key that points to a non-map, non-false value and creates a new map that contains only that key/value. Which it's a hard thing to understand why I'd want that, especially since some Map implementations make no guarantee about order. And even if I did want that, I definitely wouldn't want to do that this way. A single for loop could have solved this problem.

Reginald, I don't think there's any absolution for this. Instead, my advice would be to install a carbon monoxide detector in your office, because I have some serious concerns about whether or not your brain is getting enough oxygen.

[Advertisement] Utilize BuildMaster to release your software with confidence, at the pace your business demands. Download today!

ESSEX Air Ambulance trust will host an evening of glitter and dance with special celebrity guest appearances.

Further to the below, we have been made aware of a continued erroneous publication of the video. This has now been removed, and we have agreed to meet Dr Mulholland's legal costs...

Jamie Waller, 46, sold Hallsmead Ait, a triangular island or eyot in Berkshire, close to Shiplake Lock in Oxfordshire, for £99,470 - just a fifth of the price he paid three years ago.

Cyber-flashing – the sending of unsolicited sexual images with the intent to scare, upset or humiliate – became a specific criminal offence in January 2024.

Court papers show Carroll, 36, was filming the Epping protests on his phone when he was seen by a police officer using the device.

A man from Essex is set to break the world record for the most consecutive ultramarathons by a man after starting a special challenge to honour his mum.

Freddy Brazier, son of presenter Jeff Brazier and the late reality star Jade Goody, has spoken about his long battle with mental health.

Essex Police officer has been dismissed following a finding of gross misconduct over persistent inappropriate behaviour towards female colleagues.

The unassuming property looks like just every other house on Manor Court Road in Nuneaton, at first glance.

A possible sighting of Mr Baker was reported in the early hours of Sunday, November 23, in an area east of Norwich near the A47.

Stacey Solomon has given a glimpse into an exciting new chapter in her TV career, revealing she experienced an “absolute pinch me moment”.

Frankie-Rae Law, 11, of Braintree, complained that he had a sore throat on November 14.

Routes affected include London Liverpool Street to Hertford East, Cambridge North, and Stansted Airport, as well as Stratford to Bishops Stortford.

Richard Ashcroft rose to fame in The Verve which formed in 1990 and went on to receive critical acclaim thanks to their 1997 album Urban Hymns.

From rustic brunch spots to nostalgic bistros and authentic Italian pizza, these restaurants are winning hearts (and saving wallets).

The Indie-pop group Bastille will headline the concert on August 23 in Lower Castle Park with support from Arthur Hill, Orla Gartland, and Alfie Templeman.

Property 17 Belgrave Square has an illustrious history stretching back centuries and is Grade I listed, making it a desirable home for some of the world's richest individuals.

Part of the "fun" of JavaScript is dealing with code which comes from before sensible features existed. For example, if you wanted to clone an object in JavaScript, circa 2013, that was a wheel you needed to invent for yourself, as this StackOverflow thread highlights.

There are now better options, and you'd think that people would use them. However, the only thing more "fun" than dealing with code that hasn't caught up with the times is dealing with developers who haven't, and still insist on writing their own versions of standard methods.

const objectReplace = (oldObject, newObject) => { let keys = Object.keys(newObject) try { for (let key of keys) { oldObject[key] = newObject[key] } } catch (err) { console.log(err, oldObject) } return oldObject }

It's worth noting that Object.entries returns an array containing both the keys and values, which would be a more sensible for this operation, but then again, if we're talking about using correct functions, Object.assign would replace this function.

There's no need to handle errors here, as nothing about this assignment should throw an exception.

The thing that really irks me about this though is that it pretends to be functional (in the programming idiom sense) by returning the newly modified value, but it's also just changing that value in place because it's a reference. So it has side effects, in a technical sense (changing the value of its input parameters) while pretending not to. Now, I probably shouldn't get too hung up on that, because that's also exactly how Object.assign behaves, but dammit, I'm going to be bothered by it anyway. If you're going to reinvent the wheel, either make one that's substantially worse, or fix the problems with the existing wheel.

In any case, the real WTF here is that this function is buried deep in a 15,000 line file, written by an offshore contract team, and there are at least 5 other versions of this function, all with slightly different names, but all basically doing the same thing, because everyone on the team is just copy/pasting until they get enough code to submit a pull request.

Our submitter wonders, "Is there a way to train an AI to not let people type this?"

No, there isn't. You can try rolling that boulder up a hill, but it'll always roll right back down. Always and forever, people are going to write bad code.

[Advertisement] Utilize BuildMaster to release your software with confidence, at the pace your business demands. Download today!

A suspected robber has been charged for stealing more than £30,000 worth of iPhones from Lakeside Shopping Centre.