Re: [boost] Interest in a Behavior Driven Development Framework

From: David Abrahams (dave_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-09-16 12:09:15

Richard Newman <richard_at_[hidden]> writes:

<snip XP philosophy>

> IMHO, proper detailed documentation is simply readable 
> code.

This is part of the reason I have such a hard time with XP.

The first problem is that the author of a piece of code almost
invariably overestimates its readability.  It's common that even the
original author can't understand what he was doing after 6 months go
by.

The second problem is that you can't determine the correctness of code
by looking at it without a specification.  The redundancy provided by
documentation is important.

> At some degree, having the code clearly reflect the algorithms
> involved, such that a layperson can assess what product does, allows
> these translation layers to be reduced.

You're seriously suggesting that the layperson can read the code and
assess what the product does?

> Finally, please note that I would not advocate writing code such that 
> C++ operators and the like are rewritten into pseudo-English (or 
> whichever).  

> For instance, the tertiary operation 

ternary [ie. "?:"] operator?

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com