Archive for June, 2009

Coding Tip: Have A Single Exit Point

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Having one exit point (return) from a function is a good thing. Here is an example of a single exit point:

int MyArray::indexOfElement(int elementToFind){
	int foundIndex = ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND;
 
	for(int i = 0; i < m_numberOfElements; ++i){
		if(this->elementAtIndex(i) == elementToFind){
			foundIndex = i;
			break;
		}
	}
 
	return foundIndex;
}

Having multiple exit points can be bad. Here is an example of multiple exit points:

int MyArray::indexOfElement(int elementToFind){
	for(int i = 0; i < m_numberOfElements; ++i){
		if(this->elementAtIndex(i) == elementToFind){
			return i;
		}
	}
 
	return ELEMENT_NOT_FOUND;
}

Why are multiple exit points bad? Because I say so. They are also bad for these two reasons:

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Model View Controller Mechanisms

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

The previous article, Model View Controller Explained, explained what MVC is and why it’s such a good design pattern. The model view controller design pattern has a flow. Actions flow from the view to the model via certain pathways. Conversely, changes to the model flow through to the view. This article will dive into finer detail about these pathways, and discuss some of the specific mechanisms and design patterns used to implement the flows.
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