Hall of API shame: Boolean trap (2011)

http://ariya.ofilabs.com/2011/08/hall-of-api-shame-boolean-trap.html

by fooyc • 13 years ago

8 2 13 years ago

ariya.ofilabs.com

h2s• 13 years ago

This is by far the number one API design anti-pattern in terms of how widespread it is. It's like bad kerning: once you've seen it, it's everywhere, and nobody seems to notice.

It usually results from writing code with a short-sighted focus on achieving some bespoke functionality in the least possible time. Somebody wants to disable a piece of behaviour in a function, they know where the code is, they wrap it in an if statement and throw another optional boolean parameter onto the pile.

It's symptomatic of functions, methods or subroutines that are too long. Functions should do one thing at one level of abstraction, and the very possibility of a boolean parameter means that your function is doing at least two things.

przemoc• 13 years ago

Boolean parameter can be useful (for DRY-ness, etc.), but to prevent any misunderstandings, I almost always introduce descriptive constants in such cases:

  const bool SOMETHING = false;
  const bool OTHERTHING = true;

and use them strictly for such parameter.

When there is a default parameter value, sometimes even only one constant can be enough (for non-default variant description).

Hall of API shame: Boolean trap (2011)

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