http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=1151662

Vote on this poll

I've used goto
[bar] 33/3%
Not writing comments
[bar] 90/9%
Writing unnecessary comments
[bar] 18/2%
SQL with variables
[bar] 9/1%
Hardcoding passwords
[bar] 43/4%
Premature optimisation
[bar] 34/3%
Cargo cult programming
[bar] 9/1%
Brogramming
[bar] 2/0%
exit()ing instead of die()ing
[bar] 14/1%
Inadequate testing
[bar] 76/7%
Reinventing wheels
[bar] 79/8%
Other
[bar] 87/8%
I am a sin-free Saint
[bar] 549/53%
1043 total votes
Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: My greatest coding sin is: (c'n'p)
by tye (Sage) on Jan 01, 2016 at 16:07 UTC

    Copying and pasting code and then (usually only slightly) modifying the copy. So much effort and pain has resulted from that type of sin. Which means I've done it less than many, but I still have.

    - tye        

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Tux (Canon) on Jan 02, 2016 at 10:32 UTC
    • Not changing sensible comment when changing the code that the comment was meant to so it was senseless and misleading after the change to the code.

    Enjoy, Have FUN! H.Merijn
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Old_Gray_Bear (Bishop) on Jan 01, 2016 at 23:12 UTC
    More than one of the above....

    ----
    I Go Back to Sleep, Now.

    OGB

      More than one of the above

      More than one is your greatest?

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by RichardK (Parson) on Jan 01, 2016 at 15:26 UTC

    other :- not understanding the limitations of floating point!

      In my professional work, I've seen this particular sin most often in the form of "refusal to use floating point (due to lack of proper understanding of the limitations leading to a fear or dread or just undue reluctance to use floating point in so many situations where it would be better than some integer, usually in a poor choice of units)".

      - tye        

      not understanding the limitations of floating point!

      Just floating a point here: Floating points are not limited. Computer implemented floating point math, however, is.

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by johngg (Canon) on Jan 01, 2016 at 17:31 UTC

    I've confessed to (frequently) using goto ... in my defence, I didn't have much choice about it as I started out as a FORTRAN IV programmer. I haven't used one for decades since moving on to more modern languages :-/

    Cheers,

    JohnGG

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 02, 2016 at 04:34 UTC
    one-character variable names
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Happy-the-monk (Canon) on Jan 02, 2016 at 10:07 UTC

    More than half of the above. Who can say what be the biggest of those sins?

    Cheers, Sören

    Créateur des bugs mobiles - let loose once, run everywhere.
    (hooked on the Perl Programming language)

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by dbuckhal (Chaplain) on Jan 04, 2016 at 18:09 UTC
    Other: Being "too clever" with my code. Perl can promote fancy ways to do things, but keeping a (expression|statement) simple has its benefits.
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jan 04, 2016 at 20:24 UTC

    Spending too long trying to fix broken code rather than starting again from scratch.

    Seven out of ten times when I start over I end up going back and fixing the original broken code anyway; but starting over from scratch, by removing the influence of the existing structure, variable names, comments etc., the realisation of what is wrong with the existing code often falls into place very quickly, where staring at the original code often leads one's brain down the same path that led to the original error in the first place.

    And on the other three occasions, the new code comes together more quickly and cleanly because the second time around you've a clearer picture of what you need to achieve.


    With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
    Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
    "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". I knew I was on the right track :)
    In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.
      the second time around you've a clearer picture of what you need to achieve.

      Undoubtedly. There's also the added benefit that you are coding to the spec as it stands now rather than to a bunch of feature-creeping incremental changes.

        Indeed. Which reminds me of one of my all-time-favourite software-development related quotes:

        Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen. (Edward Berard)

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by toolic (Bishop) on Jan 04, 2016 at 18:51 UTC
    Others:
    • No usage documentation whatsoever.
    • No version control.
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by karlgoethebier (Abbot) on Jan 02, 2016 at 18:17 UTC
    Copying and pasting code and then (usually only slightly) modifying the copy... More than one of the above... (tye and Old_Gray_Bear)

    I guess i'm in respectable society ;-)

    And didn't the egyptian masons also just brick their dirt?

    Best regards and a HNY, Karl

    «The Crux of the Biscuit is the Apostrophe»

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by BillKSmith (Monsignor) on Jan 03, 2016 at 05:15 UTC
    What me a sinner? My variable names are not necessarily good, but at least they are long. I have used whatever it takes to avoid a simple goto. I have always tried to use a subroutine rather than repeating code (even when I know that some instances are likely to change in future versions). Why clutter my excellent code with comments? I am certainly open to reusing code. (To bad that I could never find exactly what I needed) My "clever" code makes it easy to see the bit picture at the expense of the details (or is it the other way around?) I read lots of programming books and manage to use every new trick I see. Most of my code is tested only with simple input. (Everyone knows that anything worth doing with a computer is to complicated to test more.)
    Bill
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by girarde (Hermit) on Jan 17, 2016 at 01:16 UTC
    I invented a text file format to store configuration items, either single items or lists, because I did not know what xml was at the time. It wasn't a freaking .ini file, though.
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by karlgoethebier (Abbot) on Jan 04, 2016 at 18:44 UTC
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by anonymized user 468275 (Curate) on Jan 14, 2016 at 14:09 UTC
    To the self-appointed sin-free: Are you sure? I don't see how anyone can feasibly avoid re-inventing wheels unless you never achieve anything owing to spending all your time checking for originality. And that isn't the only trap for the self-righteous here. Commenting habits vary widely. Too widely to fit into the low standard deviation implied by the high "sin-free" percentage of voters. Oops!

    Update: Let he who is without sin cast the first vote? or something like that.

    One world, one people

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Lady_Aleena (Priest) on Jan 14, 2016 at 05:50 UTC

    Other: I am guilty of more than one of the above. Anyone who knows me knows which ones.

    No matter how hysterical I get, my problems are not time sensitive. So, relax, have a cookie, and a very nice day!
    Lady Aleena
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 19, 2016 at 18:24 UTC
    Clearly, many are either shameless liars or deluded.
Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by chacham (Prior) on Jan 04, 2016 at 15:21 UTC

    Anyone else notice the node id for the first poll of '16, has both a 15 and a 16 in it?

Re: My greatest coding sin is:
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 28, 2016 at 19:16 UTC

    This poll should be multiple choice. I know that I have willfully committed at least half of these sins, and so am posting anonymously. I laugh at those who claim to be without sin.

      The question is for the greatest. We have all committed multiple violations.

        That's apparently not true, read the results of your own poll. Over half of the responses claim to have committed no violations at all.

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