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Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 05:39:52 -0600
From: Tim Chase <python.list@tim.thechases.com>
To: python-list@python.org
Subject: Re: PyWart: More surpises via "implict conversion to boolean" (and other steaming piles!)
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On 2014-02-13 04:11, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> give_me_an_even_number()
> =3D> returns 42
> give_me_an_even_number()
> =3D> returns 23
>=20
> Hmmm. There's a bug in give_me_an_even_number(). How do I reproduce
> that bug? What arguments do I pass? Oh, the same no-arguments as
> for the working call.
>=20
> Clearly, the function must have *hidden state*. Hidden state (e.g.
> a global variable) makes it hard to reason about the function call,
> since you don't know what the hidden state is. So that's also a bit
> smelly.

I'd even go so far as to claim that this is the primary reason a
zero-argument function is a code-smell.  Not because zero-argument
functions smell, but because hidden-state smells and zero-argument
functions imply hidden-state.  Date/time functions are a personal pet
peeve for just this reason, and require addressing the hidden-state
of the system clock regardless of parameter-count.  Thus instead of
something like

  class Person:
    def __init__(self, name, dob):
      self.name =3D name
      self.dob =3D dob
    def age(self):
      return datetime.date.today() - self.dob

I do

  def age(self, as_of=3DNone):
    if as_of is None:
      as_of =3D datetime.date.today()
    return as_of =3D self.dob

allowing me to test the function with known dates.

> > There are code smells that are the opposite in fact, methods with
> > long parameter lists are generally seen as code smell (=E2=80=9Cpassing=
 a
> > paragraph=E2=80=9D).
>=20
> Absolutely! You'll get no disagreement from me there.

*coughtkintercough*

-tkc