Bad Programming Practices 101: Become a Better Coder by Learning How (Not) to Program

© Karl Beecher 2018

Karl BeecherBad Programming Practices 101https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-3411-2_2

2. Layout and Structure

Karl Beecher¹ 

(1)

Berlin, Germany

 

Objectives

In this chapter, you’ll learn:

• How to make your code difficult to read

• Why unstructured programming helps you write worse code than structured programming does

• How to make a mess of documentation

Prerequisites

Before reading this chapter, make sure you’re familiar with:

• Basic Java programming, including the following:

  • Using methods and parameters

  • if statements and basic looping

  • Writing simple comments and JavaDoc

• Some form of source-code editor

• The difference between source code and binary code

Introduction

The way you lay out your code has consequences for how understandable it is. This ...