Re: How do you read this code ?

[Joe Pluta <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Douglas Handy wrote:
> While I agree Joe's observation means his simple one-liner performs the
> equivalent function of the existing code, the fact they tried to setup the
> IF construct makes me suspect the code isn't working as originally
> intended.  So Joe's simplified version may just be maintaining a previously
> undetected bug.
>   
While I would never blithely remove a complex IF like that, I was simply 
trying to illustrate a common problem: fixing the technical details 
without paying mind to the bigger picture, which in this case is the 
fact that the code is broken.  Why migrate code when it obviously 
doesn't work?

> If I saw something like that in code, before simplifying to Joe's method I
> think it would be prudent to try to find out what the various fields and
> codes mean and whether a (different and corrected) form of the IF statment
> should be implemented.  Using free form and parentheses around each AND set
> and new lines for each OR condition can make the corrected code much easier
> to follow.
>   
In essence, identify the business requirement and write the appropriate 
code.  Which in this case, as Barbara hypothesized and as Cyndi 
corroborated, since the code has been in place so long, is to simply 
code the single line replacement.

Joe