simplicity

Practice 22

Simplify Logic with State Machines

Table-driven code is great for simplifying repetitive sequences of code. State machines take this to the next level by adding context and the ability to decide dynamically which code to run in a given situation.

(You may see state machines referred to as finite state automata or finite state machines.)

However, a lot of FUD is directed at state machines. As a result many developers avoid them. That’s just plain silly—a simple state machine can make your code far easier to understand and change.

Idea 49

You don’t need libraries or design patterns to write a state machine

I use state machines all the time, and each time they have improved the code I was working on. Here are a few examples:

Parsing

I needed ...