The Final Countdown

Here are a couple links to read-up on:

• Functional vs "Java" Style
• Go Ahead: Next Generation Java Programming Style
• Next Generation Java is not very different from today's Java

Some interesting points all around, but I was very concerned with the condescending dismissal of using the final keyword, especially on local variables, making lame arguments about readability and clutter. If you want to talk about some actual clutter problems, start using more anonymous inner classes in functional style; now that is clutter.

Well, their (bloated) opinions (of themselves) are incorrect (after all this is a rant and My Opinion), because final is telling you important things about your code, namely that you believe in immutability, and don't just pay lip service to it. Just because Cedric

can't even remember last time I was bitten by a bug involving the reassignment of a variable to a different value within a code block.

doesn't mean Dick to us, but I'm sure it's good for his Ego! I guess we should all be so effin perfect as that, and final is the dirty little secret to take us there!

Thankfully, the comments sections bear this out, as I was delighted to see others extolling the virtues of final for the same reasons I endorse:

• Method parameters and previously-assigned local variables are not scratch-buffers to play reuse/optimization games with.
• Your code/dataflow are moving forward (literally down-the-page) and there's no need to look back and see if anything is getting re-used, or determining whether variables "magically" change meaning 10 lines into the method.
• The perceived noise claim is actually a Grail-shaped Beacon illuminating the locked-down nature of the data, which means visual scanning is rapid. If I see final I don't bother reading the rest of the line, because I know it's an immutable assignment guaranteed by the compiler.
• The converse of this is that missing final is now a Bad Code Smell, and warrants closer examination.

The only part where it weighs down for me, is the conditional assignment initialization scenario, where you start down the jumping through hoops path to maintain finality:

final Blah theThing =   big-fat-conditional ?   value1 :   value2;

Depending on how hard you feel like working, and the complexity of the three terms, and any number of other (emotional) factors, you may punt on this scenario at some threshold; I've been there. Eventually the urge to rectify things takes over, typically after stopping at the code enough times triggered by the non-final "Smell".

Pledge Drive II

It's that time again! We are asking for Your Support as a TEEG Follower!

The last Pledge Drive was 9 Months ago, and it basically blew. So, rather than torment you like the Public Radio Stations do, I will simply link to the previous Pledge Drive.

Now, wasn't that painless? See, it's already over!

COBOL.NET!!!?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Converting C# to COBOL

And I'm actually old enough that I learned it in college! Fortunately, I never had to actually create any as a professional. However, I did have to analyze a COBOL program listing (from an active system) for a consulting gig I was on in 2006.

Back to the rant then?

I'm sorry, but aren't we already typing enough characters already? I'm tired of wiring up Java anonymous inner classes that pretend to be closures. We just finally got closure syntax in C# boiled down to something reasonable! What the fuck will that look like in COBOL? There wasn't an example, thankfully.

So will the dinosaurs be building stunning GUI applications on their old mainframes? ROFL!!!