Spelling It Out With Booleans

Code complexity has been a big issue for me lately. I've been realizing that the quality of my code has degraded over the years to the point that I'm finding I cram large chunks of code into a vaguely named method like Load() or Render(). It wasn't until I got an assistant that I realized that I wasn't following my own instructions anymore.

It wasn't that I was intentionally writing complex code but rather that a large complex function wasn't hard to read anymore -- my definition of complexity has changed.

The last time that I discussed code complexity I explained that writing short, clear methods was an ideal way to decrease code complexity. This post continues the discussion by looking at using booleans to improve the readability of code.

Clarity With Booleans

Maybe you've seen a snippet of code like this before...

if (value % 2 == 0) { 
    //do something
}
else {
    //do something else
}

Most programmers are going to immediately recognize what this code is going to do -- but imagine for a second that you don't know what that code does. How is a less seasoned programmer going to have any clue what just happened there? Try Googling 'value % 2 == 0'? I don't think that is going to work out so well.

This is a good example where a boolean can be used to create clarity in a program. A boolean is used to determine the flow of a program -- so why not use well named booleans to further clarify your intent?

bool isEvenNumber = (value % 2 == 0);
if (isEvenNumber) { 
    //do something
}
else {
    //do something else
}

This is a simple example but it applies everywhere. What stops you from spelling it out with a boolean?

Describe Intent Without A Comment

MVC is a good example of where well named booleans can improve the readability of code. How much harder is the first snippet to read compared to the second.

Logic Performed Inline

<div class="<% if (allItems.IndexOf(entry) % 2 == 0) { %>alt-item %<% } %>
<% if (entry.DatePosted.Date < DateTime.Now.Date.AddDays(-7)) { %>old-post<% } %>" >
<div class="subject" ><% =entry.Subject %></div>
<% if (string.IsNullOrEmpty((entry.Location ?? string.Empty).Trim())) { %>
  <div class="location" ><% =entry.Location %>
<% } %>
<% if (string.IsNullOrEmpty((entry.Description ?? string.Empty).Trim())) { %>
  <div class="desc" ><% =entry.Description%>
<% } %>
</div>

Logic Performed In Advance

<%
    bool isEvenItem = (allItems.IndexOf(entry) % 2 == 0);
    bool olderEntry = (entry.DatePosted.Date < DateTime.Now.Date.AddDays(-7)); 
    bool hasLocation = (string.IsNullOrEmpty((entry.Location ?? string.Empty).Trim()));
    bool hasDescription = (string.IsNullOrEmpty((entry.Description ?? string.Empty).Trim()));
%>

<div class="<% if (isEvenItem) { %>alt-item %<% } %><% if (olderEntry) { %>old-post<% } %>" >
<div class="subject" ><% =entry.Subject %></div>
<% if (hasLocation) { %><div class="location" ><% =entry.Location %><% } %>
<% if (hasDescription) { %><div class="desc" ><% =entry.Description%><% } %>
</div>

Snippet one is shorter than snippet two -- but does that really make it better? Or less complex?

You could argue that the logic shouldn't be inline with MVC to begin with and you'd be correct. Instead those same comparisons would be well named boolean properties attached to the the model being used -- which is exactly what I'm suggesting here.

It doesn't matter where they are but using well-named booleans can improve and clarify the flow of logic in your application.