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  • Docs for auto-generated methods in Ruby on Rails

    - by macek
    Rails has all sorts of auto-generated methods that I've often times struggled to find documentation for. For example, in routes.rb, if I have: map.resources :projects do |p| p.resources :tasks end This will get a plethora of auto-generate path and url helpers. Where can I find documentation for how to work with these paths? I generally understand how to work with them, but more explicit docs might help me understand some of the magic that happens behind the scenes. # compare project_path(@project) project_task_path(@project, @task) # to project_path(:id => @project.id) project_task_path(:project_id => @project.id, :id => @task.id) Also, when I change an attribute on a model, @post.foo_changed? will be true. Where can I find documentation for this and all other magical methods that are created like this? If the magic is there, I'd love to take advantage of it. And finally: Is there a complete resource for config.___ statements for environment.rb? I was able to find docs for Configuration#gem but what attributes can I set within the stubs like config.active_record.___, config.action_mailer.___, config.action_controller.___, etc. Again, I'm looking for a complete resource here, not just a settings for the examples I provided. Even if you can only answer one of these questions, please chime in. These things seem to have been hiding from me and it's my goal to get them some more exposure, so I'll be upvoting all links to docs that point me to what I'm looking for. Thanks! ps, If they're not called auto-generated methods, I apologize. Someone can teach me a lesson here, too :) Edit I'm not looking for tutorials here, folks. I have a fair amount of experience with rails; I'm just looking for complete docs. E.g., I understand how routing works, I just want docs where I can read about all of the usage options.

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  • Visitor and templated virtual methods

    - by Thomas Matthews
    In a typical implementation of the Visitor pattern, the class must account for all variations (descendants) of the base class. There are many instances where the same method content in the visitor is applied to the different methods. A templated virtual method would be ideal in this case, but for now, this is not allowed. So, can templated methods be used to resolve virtual methods of the parent class? Given (the foundation): struct Visitor_Base; // Forward declaration. struct Base { virtual accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) = 0; }; // More forward declarations struct Base_Int; struct Base_Long; struct Base_Short; struct Base_UInt; struct Base_ULong; struct Base_UShort; struct Visitor_Base { virtual void operator()(Base_Int& b) = 0; virtual void operator()(Base_Long& b) = 0; virtual void operator()(Base_Short& b) = 0; virtual void operator()(Base_UInt& b) = 0; virtual void operator()(Base_ULong& b) = 0; virtual void operator()(Base_UShort& b) = 0; }; struct Base_Int : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; struct Base_Long : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; struct Base_Short : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; struct Base_UInt : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; struct Base_ULong : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; struct Base_UShort : public Base { void accept_visitor(Visitor_Base& visitor) { visitor(*this); } }; Now that the foundation is laid, here is where the kicker comes in (templated methods): struct Visitor_Cout : public Visitor { template <class Receiver> void operator() (Receiver& r) { std::cout << "Visitor_Cout method not implemented.\n"; } }; Intentionally, Visitor_Cout does not contain the keyword virtual in the method declaration. All the other attributes of the method signatures match the parent declaration (or perhaps specification). In the big picture, this design allows developers to implement common visitation functionality that differs only by the type of the target object (the object receiving the visit). The implementation above is my suggestion for alerts when the derived visitor implementation hasn't implement an optional method. Is this legal by the C++ specification? (I don't trust when some says that it works with compiler XXX. This is a question against the general language.)

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  • Overriding LINQ extension methods

    - by Ruben Vermeersch
    Is there a way to override extension methods (provide a better implementation), without explicitly having to cast to them? I'm implementing a data type that is able to handle certain operations more efficiently than the default extension methods, but I'd like to keep the generality of IEnumerable. That way any IEnumerable can be passed, but when my class is passed in, it should be more efficient. As a toy example, consider the following: // Compile: dmcs -out:test.exe test.cs using System; namespace Test { public interface IBoat { void Float (); } public class NiceBoat : IBoat { public void Float () { Console.WriteLine ("NiceBoat floating!"); } } public class NicerBoat : IBoat { public void Float () { Console.WriteLine ("NicerBoat floating!"); } public void BlowHorn () { Console.WriteLine ("NicerBoat: TOOOOOT!"); } } public static class BoatExtensions { public static void BlowHorn (this IBoat boat) { Console.WriteLine ("Patched on horn for {0}: TWEET", boat.GetType().Name); } } public class TestApp { static void Main (string [] args) { IBoat niceboat = new NiceBoat (); IBoat nicerboat = new NicerBoat (); Console.WriteLine ("## Both should float:"); niceboat.Float (); nicerboat.Float (); // Output: // NiceBoat floating! // NicerBoat floating! Console.WriteLine (); Console.WriteLine ("## One has an awesome horn:"); niceboat.BlowHorn (); nicerboat.BlowHorn (); // Output: // Patched on horn for NiceBoat: TWEET // Patched on horn for NicerBoat: TWEET Console.WriteLine (); Console.WriteLine ("## That didn't work, but it does when we cast:"); (niceboat as NiceBoat).BlowHorn (); (nicerboat as NicerBoat).BlowHorn (); // Output: // Patched on horn for NiceBoat: TWEET // NicerBoat: TOOOOOT! Console.WriteLine (); Console.WriteLine ("## Problem is: I don't always know the type of the objects."); Console.WriteLine ("## How can I make it use the class objects when the are"); Console.WriteLine ("## implemented and extension methods when they are not,"); Console.WriteLine ("## without having to explicitely cast?"); } } } Is there a way to get the behavior from the second case, without explict casting? Can this problem be avoided?

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  • Ruby Methods: how to return an usage string when insufficient arguments are given

    - by Shyam
    Hi, After I have created a serious bunch of classes (with initialize methods), I am loading these into IRb to test each of them. I do so by creating simple instances and calling their methods to learn their behavior. However sometimes I don't remember exactly what order I was supposed to give the arguments when I call the .new method on the class. It requires me to look back at the code. However, I think it should be easy enough to return a usage message, instead of seeing: ArgumentError: wrong number of arguments (0 for 9) So I prefer to return a string with the human readable arguments, by example using "puts" or just a return of a string. Now I have seen the rescue keyword inside begin-end code, but I wonder how I could catch the ArgumentError when the initialize method is called. Thank you for your answers, feedback and comments!

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  • PHP: OOP and methods

    - by Pirkka
    Hello I`ve been wondering how to implement methods in a class. Could someone explain me what means if one does OOP in procedural style? Here is an example: class Fld extends Model { private $file; private $properties = array(); public function init($file) { $this->file = $file; $this->parseFile(); } private function parseFile() { // parses the file foreach($this->file as $line)...... .................. $this->properties = $result; } } I mean is it a good thing to have methods like these that do operations for the class properties like that. Or should I pass the class property as method parameter... I mean this would cause error if the file property wouldnt be declared.

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  • Operator Overloading with C# Extension Methods

    - by Blinky
    I'm attempting to use extension methods to add an operater overload to the C# StringBuilder class. Specifically, given StringBuilder sb, I'd like sb += "text" to become equivalent to sb.Append("text"); Here's the syntax for creating an extension method for StringBuilder: public static class sbExtensions { public static StringBuilder blah(this StringBuilder sb) { return sb; } } It successfully adds the "blah" extension method to the StringBuilder. Unfortunately, operator overloading does not seem to work: public static class sbExtensions { public static StringBuilder operator +(this StringBuilder sb, string s) { return sb.Append(s); } } Among other issues, the keyword 'this' is not allowed in this context. Are adding operator overloads via extension methods possible? If so, what's the proper way to go about it?

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  • Automatic conversion between methods and functions in Scala

    - by fikovnik
    I would like to understand the rules when can Scala automatically convert methods into functions. For example, if I have following two methods: def d1(a: Int, b: Int) {} def r[A, B](delegate: (A, B) ? Unit) {} I can do this: r(d1) But, when overloading r it will no longer work: def r[A, B, C](delegate: (A, B, C) ? Unit) {} r(d1) // no longer compiles and I have to explicitly convert method into partially applied function: r(d1 _) Is there any way to accomplish following with the explicit conversion? def r[A, B](delegate: (A, B) ? Unit) {} def r[A, B, C](delegate: (A, B, C) ? Unit) {} def d1(a: Int, b: Int) {} def d2(a: Int, b: Int, c: Int) {} r(d1) // only compiles with r(d1 _) r(d2) // only compiles with r(d2 _) There is somewhat similar question, but it is not fully explained.

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  • Can You Have "Empty" Abstract/Classes?

    - by ShrimpCrackers
    Of course you can, I'm just wondering if it's rational to design in such a way. I'm making a breakout clone and was doing some class design. I wanted to use inheritance, even though I don't have to, to apply what I've learned in C++. I was thinking about class design and came up with something like this: GameObject - base class (consists of data members like x and y offsets, and a vector of SDL_Surface* MovableObject : GameObject - abstract class + derived class of GameObject (one method void move() = 0; ) NonMovableObject : GameObject - empty class...no methods or data members other than constructor and destructor(at least for now?). Later I was planning to derive a class from NonMovableObject, like Tileset : NonMovableObject. I was just wondering if "empty" abstract classes or just empty classes are often used...I notice that the way I'm doing this, I'm just creating the class NonMovableObject just for sake of categorization. I know I'm overthinking things just to make a breakout clone, but my focus is less on the game and more on using inheritance and designing some sort of game framework.

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  • Generate Unique Abstract Backgrounds with Ablaze

    - by Jason Fitzpatrick
    If you want custom and unique backgrounds without having to code your own image-generating engine, Ablaze makes it simple (and fun) to create abstract images. You can customize a wide array of options in Ablaze including the base shape (ring, horizontal line, or random), number of particles, distance each particle travels, and the speed (if you increase the speed range you get more distinct lines and if you decrease it you get smoother smokier shapes). You can also seed the design with a color palette pulled from any image you provide (the sample above was seeded with a Wonder Woman comic panel). Tweak and reset the pattern generation as much as you want; when you create an abstract image worthy of your desktop just click the save button to grab a copy of it in PNG format. Ablaze [via Flowing Data] How To Create a Customized Windows 7 Installation Disc With Integrated Updates How to Get Pro Features in Windows Home Versions with Third Party Tools HTG Explains: Is ReadyBoost Worth Using?

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  • Magic Methods in Python

    - by dArignac
    Howdy, I'm kind of new to Python and I wonder if there is a way to create something like the magic methods in PHP (http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.overloading.php#language.oop5.overloading.methods) My aim is to ease the access of child classes in my model. I basically have a parent class that has n child classes. These classes have three values, a language key, a translation key and a translation value. The are describing a kind of generic translation handling. The parent class can have translations for different translation key each in different languages. E.g. the key "title" can be translated into german and english and the key "description" too (and so far and so on) I don't want to get the child classes and filter by the set values (at least I want but not explicitly, the concrete implementation behind the magic method would do this). I want to call parent_class.title['de'] # or also possible maybe parent_class.title('de') for getting the translation of title in german (de). So there has to be a magic method that takes the name of the called method and their params (as in PHP). As far as I dug into Python this is only possible with simple attributes (_getattr_, _setattr_) or with setting/getting directly within the class (_getitem_, _setitem_) which both do not fit my needs. Maybe there is a solution for this? Please help! Thanks in advance!

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  • Threading.Timer invokes asynchronously many methods

    - by Dimitar
    Hi guys! Please help! I call a threading.timer from global.asax which invokes many methods each of which gets data from different services and writes it to files. My question is how do i make the methods to be invoked on a regular basis let's say 5 mins? What i do is: in Global.asax I declare a timer protected void Application_Start() { TimerCallback timerDelegate = new TimerCallback(myMainMethod); Timer mytimer = new Timer(timerDelegate, null, 0, 300000); Application.Add("timer", mytimer); } the declaration of myMainMethod looks like this: public static void myMainMethod(object obj) { MyDelegateType d1 = new MyDelegateType(getandwriteServiceData1); d1.BeginInvoke(null, null); MyDelegateType d2 = new MyDelegateType(getandwriteServiceData2); d2.BeginInvoke(null, null); } this approach works fine but it invokes myMainMethod every 5 mins. What I need is the method to be invoked 5 mins after all the data is retreaved and written to files on the server. How do I do that?

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  • Generics in return types of static methods and inheritance

    - by Axel
    Generics in return types of static methods do not seem to get along well with inheritance. Please take a look at the following code: class ClassInfo<C> { public ClassInfo(Class<C> clazz) { this(clazz,null); } public ClassInfo(Class<C> clazz, ClassInfo<? super C> superClassInfo) { } } class A { public static ClassInfo<A> getClassInfo() { return new ClassInfo<A>(A.class); } } class B extends A { // Error: The return type is incompatible with A.getClassInfo() public static ClassInfo<B> getClassInfo() { return new ClassInfo<B>(B.class, A.getClassInfo()); } } I tried to circumvent this by changing the return type for A.getClassInfo(), and now the error pops up at another location: class ClassInfo<C> { public ClassInfo(Class<C> clazz) { this(clazz,null); } public ClassInfo(Class<C> clazz, ClassInfo<? super C> superClassInfo) { } } class A { public static ClassInfo<? extends A> getClassInfo() { return new ClassInfo<A>(A.class); } } class B extends A { public static ClassInfo<? extends B> getClassInfo() { // Error: The constructor ClassInfo<B>(Class<B>, ClassInfo<capture#1-of ? extends A>) is undefined return new ClassInfo<B>(B.class, A.getClassInfo()); } } What is the reason for this strict checking on static methods? And how can I get along? Changing the method name seems awkward.

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  • Extensions methods and forward compatibilty of source code.

    - by TcKs
    Hi, I would like solve the problem (now hypothetical but propably real in future) of using extension methods and maginification of class interface in future development. Example: /* the code written in 17. March 2010 */ public class MySpecialList : IList<MySpecialClass> { // ... implementation } // ... somewhere elsewhere ... MySpecialList list = GetMySpecialList(); // returns list of special classes var reversedList = list.Reverse().ToList(); // .Reverse() is extension method /* now the "list" is unchanged and "reveresedList" has same items in reversed order */ /* --- in future the interface of MySpecialList will be changed because of reason XYZ*/ /* the code written in some future */ public class MySpecialList : IList<MySpecialClass> { // ... implementation public MySpecialList Reverse() { // reverse order of items in this collection return this; } } // ... somewhere elsewhere ... MySpecialList list = GetMySpecialList(); // returns list of special classes var reversedList = list.Reverse().ToList(); // .Reverse() was extension method but now is instance method and do something else ! /* now the "list" is reversed order of items and "reveresedList" has same items lake in "list" */ My question is: Is there some way how to prevent this case (I didn't find them)? If is now way how to prevent it, is there some way how to find possible issues like this? If is now way how to find possible issues, should I forbid usage of extension methods? Thanks.

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  • Can i override an abstract method written in a parent class, with a different name in a child class?

    - by Ranhiru
    abstract class SettingSaver { public abstract void add(string Name, string Value); public abstract void remove(string SettingName); } class XMLSettings : SettingSaver { public override void add(string Name, string Value) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } public override void remove(string SettingName) { throw new NotImplementedException(); } } Is there anyway that I can change the name of the add function in XMLSettings class to addSetting but make sure it overrides the add function in the SettingSaver? I know it should be definitely overridden in derived classes but just want to know whether I can use a different name :) Thanx in advance :D

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  • Go - Methods of an interface

    - by nevalu
    Would be correct the next way to implement the methods attached to an interface? (getKey, getData) type reader interface { getKey(ver uint) string getData() string } type location struct { reader fileLocation string err os.Error } func (self *location) getKey(ver uint) string {...} func (self *location) getData() string {...} func NewReader(fileLocation string) *location { _location := new(location) _location.fileLocation = fileLocation return _location }

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  • About extension methods

    - by Srinivas Reddy Thatiparthy
    Shall i always need to throw ArgumentNullException(well,extension methods in Enumerable throw ArgumentNullException) when an extension method is called on null?I would like to have a clarification on this?If the answer is an Yes and No please present both the cases.

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  • Generate set/get methods for a c++ class

    - by Narek
    Is there any tool that generates set and get methods for a class. Just I create classes very frequently and would like to have a tool which for each class-member wil generate following functions: Member_Type getMemberName() const; void setMemberName(const Member_Type & val);

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  • class hierarchy design for small java project

    - by user523956
    I have written a java code which does following:- Main goal is to fetch emails from (inbox, spam) folders and store them in database. It fetches emails from gmail,gmx,web.de,yahoo and Hotmail. Following attributes are stored in mysql database. Slno, messagedigest, messageid, foldername, dateandtime, receiver, sender, subject, cc, size and emlfile. For gmail,gmy and web.de, I have used javamail API, because email form it can be fetched with IMAP. For yahoo and hotmail, I have used html parser and httpclient to fetch emails form spam folder and for inbox folder, I have used pop3 javamail API. I want to have proper class hierarchy which makes my code efficient and easily reusable. As of now I have designed class hierarchy as below: I am sure it can still be improved. So I would like to have different opinions on it. I have following classes and methods as of now. MainController:- Here I pass emailid, password and foldername from which emails have to be fetched. Abstract Class :-EmailProtocol Abstract Methods of it (All methods except executeParser contains method definition):- connectImap() // used by gmx,gmail and web.de email ids connectPop3() // used by hotmail and yahoo to fetch emails of inbox folder createMessageDigest // used by every email provider(gmx, gmail,web.de,yahoo,hotmail) establishDBConnection // used by every email emailAlreadyExists // used by every email which checks whether email already exists in db or not, if not then store it. storeemailproperties // used by every email to store emails properties to mysql database executeParser // nothing written in it. Overwridden and used by just hotmail and yahoo to fetch emails form spam folder. Imap extends EmailProtocol (nothing in it. But I have to have it to access methods of EmailProtocol. This is used to fetch emails from gmail,gmx and web.de) I know this is really a bad way but don't know how to do it other way. Hotmsil extends EmailProtocol Methods:- executeParser() :- This is used by just hotmail email id. fetchjunkemails() :- This is also very specific for only hotmail email id. Yahoo extends EmailProtocol Methods:- executeParser() storeEmailtotemptable() MoveEmailtoInbox() getFoldername() nullorEquals() All above methods are specific for yahoo email id. public DateTimeFormat(class) format() //this formats datetime of gmax,gmail and web.de emails. formatYahoodate //this formats datetime of yahoo email. formatHotmaildate // this formats datetime of hotmail email. public StringFormat ConvertStreamToString() // Accessed by every class except DateTimeFormat class. formatFromTo() // Accessed by every class except DateTimeFormat class. public Class CheckDatabaseExistance public static void checkForDatabaseTablesAvailability() (This method checks at the beginnning whether database and required tables exist in mysql or not. if not it creates them) Please see code of my MainController class so that You can have an idea about how I use different classes. public class MainController { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { ArrayList<String> web_de_folders = new ArrayList<String>(); web_de_folders.add("INBOX"); web_de_folders.add("Unbekannt"); web_de_folders.add("Spam"); web_de_folders.add("OUTBOX"); web_de_folders.add("SENT"); web_de_folders.add("DRAFTS"); web_de_folders.add("TRASH"); web_de_folders.add("Trash"); ArrayList<String> gmx_folders = new ArrayList<String>(); gmx_folders.add("INBOX"); gmx_folders.add("Archiv"); gmx_folders.add("Entwürfe"); gmx_folders.add("Gelöscht"); gmx_folders.add("Gesendet"); gmx_folders.add("Spamverdacht"); gmx_folders.add("Trash"); ArrayList<String> gmail_folders = new ArrayList<String>(); gmail_folders.add("Inbox"); gmail_folders.add("[Google Mail]/Spam"); gmail_folders.add("[Google Mail]/Trash"); gmail_folders.add("[Google Mail]/Sent Mail"); ArrayList<String> pop3_folders = new ArrayList<String>(); pop3_folders.add("INBOX"); CheckDatabaseExistance.checkForDatabaseTablesAvailability(); EmailProtocol imap = new Imap(); System.out.println("CHECKING FOR NEW EMAILS IN WEB.DE...(IMAP)"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); imap.connectImap("[email protected]", "pwd", web_de_folders); System.out.println("\nCHECKING FOR NEW EMAILS IN GMX.DE...(IMAP)"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); imap.connectImap("[email protected]", "pwd", gmx_folders); System.out.println("\nCHECKING FOR NEW EMAILS IN GMAIL...(IMAP)"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); imap.connectImap("[email protected]", "pwd", gmail_folders); EmailProtocol yahoo = new Yahoo(); Yahoo y=new Yahoo(); System.out.println("\nEXECUTING YAHOO PARSER"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); y.executeParser("http://de.mc1321.mail.yahoo.com/mc/welcome?ymv=0","[email protected]","pwd"); System.out.println("\nCHECKING FOR NEW EMAILS IN INBOX OF YAHOO (POP3)"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); yahoo.connectPop3("[email protected]","pwd",pop3_folders); System.out.println("\nCHECKING FOR NEW EMAILS IN INBOX OF HOTMAIL (POP3)"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); yahoo.connectPop3("[email protected]","pwd",pop3_folders); EmailProtocol hotmail = new Hotmail(); Hotmail h=new Hotmail(); System.out.println("\nEXECUTING HOTMAIL PARSER"); System.out.println("*********************************************************************************"); h.executeParser("https://login.live.com/ppsecure/post.srf","[email protected]","pwd"); } } I have kept DatetimeFormat and StringFormat class public so that I can access its public methods by just (DatetimeFormat.formatYahoodate for e.g. from different methods). This is the first time I have developed something in java. It serves its purpose but of course code is still not so efficient I think. I need your suggestions on this project.

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  • conventions for friend methods in Perl

    - by xenoterracide
    Perl doesn't support a friend relationship between objects, nor does it support private or protected methods. What is usually done for private methods is to prefix the name with an underscore. I occasionally have methods that I think of as friend methods. Meaning that I expect them to be used by a specific object, or an object with a specific responsibility, but I'm not sure if I should make that method public (meaning foo ) or private ( _foo ) or if there's a better convention? is there a convention for friend methods?

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  • Building a database class in PHP

    - by Sprottenwels
    I wonder if I should write a database class for my application, and if so, how to accomplish it? Over there on SO, a guy mentioned it should be written as an abstract class. However, I can't understand why this would be a benefit. Do I understand correctly, that if I would write an abstract class, every other class that methods will need a database connection, could simply extend this abstract class and have it's own database object? If so, how is this different from a "normal" class where I could instantiate an database object? Another method would be to completely forget about my own class and to instantiate a mysqli object on demand. What do you recommend?

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  • C#/.NET Little Wonders: Static Char Methods

    - by James Michael Hare
    Once again, in this series of posts I look at the parts of the .NET Framework that may seem trivial, but can help improve your code by making it easier to write and maintain. The index of all my past little wonders posts can be found here. Often times in our code we deal with the bigger classes and types in the BCL, and occasionally forgot that there are some nice methods on the primitive types as well.  Today we will discuss some of the handy static methods that exist on the char (the C# alias of System.Char) type. The Background I was examining a piece of code this week where I saw the following: 1: // need to get the 5th (offset 4) character in upper case 2: var type = symbol.Substring(4, 1).ToUpper(); 3:  4: // test to see if the type is P 5: if (type == "P") 6: { 7: // ... do something with P type... 8: } Is there really any error in this code?  No, but it still struck me wrong because it is allocating two very short-lived throw-away strings, just to store and manipulate a single char: The call to Substring() generates a new string of length 1 The call to ToUpper() generates a new upper-case version of the string from Step 1. In my mind this is similar to using ToUpper() to do a case-insensitive compare: it isn’t wrong, it’s just much heavier than it needs to be (for more info on case-insensitive compares, see #2 in 5 More Little Wonders). One of my favorite books is the C++ Coding Standards: 101 Rules, Guidelines, and Best Practices by Sutter and Alexandrescu.  True, it’s about C++ standards, but there’s also some great general programming advice in there, including two rules I love:         8. Don’t Optimize Prematurely         9. Don’t Pessimize Prematurely We all know what #8 means: don’t optimize when there is no immediate need, especially at the expense of readability and maintainability.  I firmly believe this and in the axiom: it’s easier to make correct code fast than to make fast code correct.  Optimizing code to the point that it becomes difficult to maintain often gains little and often gives you little bang for the buck. But what about #9?  Well, for that they state: “All other things being equal, notably code complexity and readability, certain efficient design patterns and coding idioms should just flow naturally from your fingertips and are no harder to write then the pessimized alternatives. This is not premature optimization; it is avoiding gratuitous pessimization.” Or, if I may paraphrase: “where it doesn’t increase the code complexity and readability, prefer the more efficient option”. The example code above was one of those times I feel where we are violating a tacit C# coding idiom: avoid creating unnecessary temporary strings.  The code creates temporary strings to hold one char, which is just unnecessary.  I think the original coder thought he had to do this because ToUpper() is an instance method on string but not on char.  What he didn’t know, however, is that ToUpper() does exist on char, it’s just a static method instead (though you could write an extension method to make it look instance-ish). This leads me (in a long-winded way) to my Little Wonders for the day… Static Methods of System.Char So let’s look at some of these handy, and often overlooked, static methods on the char type: IsDigit(), IsLetter(), IsLetterOrDigit(), IsPunctuation(), IsWhiteSpace() Methods to tell you whether a char (or position in a string) belongs to a category of characters. IsLower(), IsUpper() Methods that check if a char (or position in a string) is lower or upper case ToLower(), ToUpper() Methods that convert a single char to the lower or upper equivalent. For example, if you wanted to see if a string contained any lower case characters, you could do the following: 1: if (symbol.Any(c => char.IsLower(c))) 2: { 3: // ... 4: } Which, incidentally, we could use a method group to shorten the expression to: 1: if (symbol.Any(char.IsLower)) 2: { 3: // ... 4: } Or, if you wanted to verify that all of the characters in a string are digits: 1: if (symbol.All(char.IsDigit)) 2: { 3: // ... 4: } Also, for the IsXxx() methods, there are overloads that take either a char, or a string and an index, this means that these two calls are logically identical: 1: // check given a character 2: if (char.IsUpper(symbol[0])) { ... } 3:  4: // check given a string and index 5: if (char.IsUpper(symbol, 0)) { ... } Obviously, if you just have a char, then you’d just use the first form.  But if you have a string you can use either form equally well. As a side note, care should be taken when examining all the available static methods on the System.Char type, as some seem to be redundant but actually have very different purposes.  For example, there are IsDigit() and IsNumeric() methods, which sound the same on the surface, but give you different results. IsDigit() returns true if it is a base-10 digit character (‘0’, ‘1’, … ‘9’) where IsNumeric() returns true if it’s any numeric character including the characters for ½, ¼, etc. Summary To come full circle back to our opening example, I would have preferred the code be written like this: 1: // grab 5th char and take upper case version of it 2: var type = char.ToUpper(symbol[4]); 3:  4: if (type == 'P') 5: { 6: // ... do something with P type... 7: } Not only is it just as readable (if not more so), but it performs over 3x faster on my machine:    1,000,000 iterations of char method took: 30 ms, 0.000050 ms/item.    1,000,000 iterations of string method took: 101 ms, 0.000101 ms/item. It’s not only immediately faster because we don’t allocate temporary strings, but as an added bonus there less garbage to collect later as well.  To me this qualifies as a case where we are using a common C# performance idiom (don’t create unnecessary temporary strings) to make our code better. Technorati Tags: C#,CSharp,.NET,Little Wonders,char,string

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