this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2024
85 points (86.3% liked)

Programming

17432 readers
199 users here now

Welcome to the main community in programming.dev! Feel free to post anything relating to programming here!

Cross posting is strongly encouraged in the instance. If you feel your post or another person's post makes sense in another community cross post into it.

Hope you enjoy the instance!

Rules

Rules

  • Follow the programming.dev instance rules
  • Keep content related to programming in some way
  • If you're posting long videos try to add in some form of tldr for those who don't want to watch videos

Wormhole

Follow the wormhole through a path of communities !webdev@programming.dev



founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 7 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)
async function createUser(user) {
    validateUserInput(user) || throwError(err.userValidationFailed);
    isPasswordValid(user.password) || throwError(err.invalidPassword);
    !(await userService.getUserByEmail(user.email)) || throwError(err.userExists);

    user.password = await hashPassword(user.password);
    return userService.create(user);
}

Or

async function createUser(user) {
    return await (new UserService(user))
        .validate()
        .create();
}

// elsewhere…
const UserService = class {
    #user;

    constructor(user) {
        this.user = user;
    }

    async validate() {
        InputValidator.valid(this.user);

       PasswordValidator.valid(this.user.password);

        !(await UserUniqueValidator.valid(this.user.email);

        return this;
    }

    async create() {
        this.user.password = await hashPassword(this.user.password);

        return userService.create(this.user);
    }
}

I would argue that the validate routines be their own classes; ie UserInputValidator, UserPasswordValidator, etc. They should conform to a common interface with a valid() method that throws when invalid. (I’m on mobile and typed enough already).

“Self-documenting” does not mean “write less code”. In fact, it means the opposite; it means be more verbose. The trick is to find that happy balance where you write just enough code to make it clear what’s going on (that does not mean you write long identifier names (e.g., getUserByEmail(email) vs. getUser(email) or better fetchUser(email)).

Be consistent:

  1. get* and set* should be reserved for working on an instance of an object
  2. is* or has* for Boolean returns
  3. Methods/functions are verbs because they are actionable; e.g., fetchUser(), validate(), create()
  4. Do not repeat identifiers: e.g., UserService.createUser()
  5. Properties/variables are not verbs; they are state: e.g., valid vs isValid
  6. Especially for JavaScript, everything is const unless you absolutely have to reassign its direct value; I.e., objects and arrays should be const unless you use the assignment operator after initialization
  7. All class methods should be private until it’s needed to be public. It’s easier to make an API public, but near impossible to make it private without compromising backward compatibility.
  8. Don’t be afraid to use if {} statements. Short-circuiting is cutesy and all, but it makes code more complex to read.
  9. Delineate unrelated code with new lines. What I mean is that jamming all your code together into one block makes it difficult to follow (like run-on sentences or massive walls of text). Use new lines and/or {} to create small groups of related code. You’re not penalized for the white space because it gets compiled away anyway.

There is so much more, but this should be a good primer.

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

I would argue that the validate routines be their own classes; ie UserInputValidator, UserPasswordValidator, etc.

I wouldn't. Not from this example anyway. YAGNI is an important paradigm and introducing plenty of classes upfront to implement trivial checks is overengineering typical for Java and the reason I don't like it.

Edit: Your naming convention isn't the best either. I'd expect UserInputValidator to validate user input, maybe sanitize it for a database query, but not necessarily an existence check as in the example.

[–] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I wouldn't. Not from this example anyway. YAGNI is an important paradigm and introducing plenty of classes upfront to implement trivial checks is overengineering…

Classes, functions, methods… pick your poison. The point is to encapsulate your logic in a way that is easy to understand. Lumping all of the validation logic into one monolithic block of code (be it a single class, function, or methods) is not self-documenting. Whereas separating the concerns makes it easier to read and keep your focus without mixing purposes. I’m very-engineering (imo) would be something akin to creating micro services to send data in and get a response back.

Edit: Your naming convention isn't the best either. I'd expect UserInputValidator to validate user input, maybe sanitize it for a database query, but not necessarily an existence check as in the example.

If you go back to my example, you’ll notice there is a UserUniqueValidator, which is meant to check for existence of a user.

And if you expect a validator to do sanitation, then your expectations are wrong. A validator validates, and a sanitizer sanitizes. Not both.

For the uninitiated, this is called Separation of Concerns. The idea is to do one thing and do it well, and then compose these things together to make your program — like an orchestra.

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If you go back to my example, you’ll notice there is a UserUniqueValidator, which is meant to check for existence of a user.

Oops, right, I just glanced over the code and obviously missed the text and code had different class names. Another smell in my opinion, choosing class names that only differ in the middle. Easily missed and confusion caused.

I don't think our opinions are too far off though. You're just scaling the validation logic to realistic levels and I warn that in practice coders extrapolate too quickly and too often, which results in too much generic code which is naturally harder to understand and maintain than specific code.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)