Spaghetti, ravioli and lasagna in software

[fiction]

As I was walking down the street, down the street, down the street. A very good friend I chanced to meet... And we went to this italiano restauranto around the corner. Here is what we talked about. [blink blink, screen turns black and white, time goes back...]

"Have you heard of spaghetti code?"

"Of course, I write it all the time. It is easy. I think of a problem, and start writing code to solve it. And do not stop until either the code is complete or my laptop battery runs out. And yes, I don't delete any line of code that I write. Eventually I end up with like two thousand lines of code in one giant function, and like two hundred control statements. It is fast, furious and fun. But tastes awful the next day."

"Really?"

"Yes. So, what kind of code do you write?"

"Well, I have tried my hands on ravioli, lasagna, and more recently farfalle and penne."

"I know ravioli and lasagna - just too modular or too many layers for my taste - I get lost in which piece or layer I am working on, and end up making a mess, embarrassing myself. What about farfalle and penne?"

"Oh, farfalle is what I create when I refactor my correctly working software to smaller pieces, to such an extent that each piece looks broken and half complete."

"What is penne?"

"It is when I refactor it right, and pieces look good. Not too big, not too small. And no information hiding and stuff like that. Frankly, I don't really like information hiding - it is more hype than hoopla. I like data oriented programming - software that is independent of the data - or pasta that is independent of the meat."

[waitress comes by, and asks...]

"I heard pasta, so assume you are ready. What would you two gentlemen have?"

"I will have the three-pasta house combo, with lasagna at the core, the first layer filled with penne, and the second layer with cheese ravioli. Spare the meat. Mix tomato, pesto and alfredo sauce and spread it all over."

[waitress makes a face, and turns to the other...]

"I like spaghetti, but I will also have what my esteemed friend asked for. Additionally, can you open all the layers and separate them, placing side by side, and break all the raviolis to remove the cheese and put it on the side too. I like to keep my pasta separate from other ingredients."

1 comment:

Unknown said...

very witty