[TriLUG] OT: A C++ Templated Class Problem

[Wing D Lizard]

Tanner Lovelace wrote:
> On 4/17/06, Owen Berry <oberry at trilug.org> wrote:
>   
>> On Fri, Apr 14, 2006 at 12:54:20PM -0400, Owen Berry wrote:
>>     
>>> Templates are powerful, but IMHO they just aren't that easy to read and
>>> understand in the first place.

>>> That said, template usage for the sake of template usage should be
>>> avoided. Which is the case for almost anything.
>>>       
>
> Definitely.  Templates are useful for certain things and not
> for others and the trick is definitely figuring out when the
> right time is.  I think that can sometimes be more difficult
> for some people than actually writing the templates.
>   

Templates are definately hard to debug ( most inline code is hard to debug,
templates just make it harder).   Using them isn't too hard, writing them
is a b*tch.

My view on being a good programmer is to write code that an average
person can understand.  Most of the code any professional writes will
be maintained by somebody else.  If you are too clever, you are doing
a poor job.

Yes, good documentation is key, but...

If the average programmer can keep 5+/-2 things in their head, and your
code requires them to keep 15 things in their head, you are setting up
a bad situation.

Many genius/cowboy programers have caused companies to fail.

b²