Clean Coding

[rcmaehl]

Okay. This has been bugging me for a while, but what's the best way to make Autoit code clean? Basically, how do I justify my script so that this:

Code code code

more code

huge line of code that I don't want to split using _

Becomes:

Code code code

code code code

code code code

This is probably just me being too OCD about my coding but I'd like my coding to look nice and not have whoever is reading the source have to move their eyes around too much. I guess what I'm asking is how do I make a script more reader friendly?

EDIT:

Example:

$Menu[0] = GUICtrlCreateMenu("Menu1")
$Item[0] = GUICtrlCreateMenuItem("Leave feedback", $Menu[0], 1)
GUICtrlCreateMenuitem("", $Menu[0], 2)
$Menu[1] = GUICtrlCreateMenu("Menu2")

Line 2 has large a difference in length and is unappealing

Edited December 5, 2011 by rcmaehl

[Mat]

Don't use long lines. Use functions and temporary variables. You shouldn't get huge lines of code, the only exception is long strings you want to assign to a variable... Even that should probably use resources.

[Melba23]

rcmaehl,

Use Tidy - Ctrl-T or under the <Tools> menu in SciTE4AutoIt3. Lots of customisable settings - look in the SciTE Help under <Extra Utilties - Tidy> to see what they are.

M23

[rcmaehl]

NOTE: For some reason I can't get the Autoit code to have monospaced font. They should REALLY fix this so I can show you what I mean.

Here's an example:

$Image = GUICtrlCreatePic(@ScriptDir & "pic.jpg", @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 1), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 1), @DesktopHeight, 0x00000000, 0x00000200)[/size][/font]
$Clock[0] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowTime(), @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Clock[1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowDate(), @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Input[0] = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 050, 060, 230, 020, 0x00000160, 0x00000228)
$Input[1] = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 280, 040, 050, 020, 0x00000104, 0x00000028)
$Detail = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Enter Password to Lock", 050, 040, 230, 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Toggle = GUICtrlCreateButton("Lock", 280, 060, 050, 020, 0x0000B300, 0x00000228)

And here's what I normally do to make it "clean"

$_Image[0] = GUICtrlCreatePic(@ScriptDir & "pic.jpg"      , @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 1), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 1), @DesktopHeight, 0x00000000, 0x00000200)
$_Clock[0] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowTime()               , @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 8),           020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$_Clock[1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowDate()               , @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, (@DesktopWidth / 8),           020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$_Input[0] = GUICtrlCreateInput(""                       ,                               050, 060,               230,           020, 0x00000160, 0x00000228)
$_Input[1] = GUICtrlCreateInput(""                       ,                               280, 040,               050,           020, 0x00000104, 0x00000028)
$Detail[0] = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Enter Password to Lock"   ,                                 050, 040,               230,           020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Toggle[0] = GUICtrlCreateButton("Lock"                 ,                                280, 060,               050,           020, 0x0000B300, 0x00000228)

Edited December 5, 2011 by rcmaehl

[Melba23]

rcmaehl,

SciTE4AutoIt3 <Tools> Menu -Select SciTE Config - Go to the AU3 Font Settings group at the bottom of the dialog - Check Monospace Font checkbox. And Robert is your Mum's brother.

M23

[BrewManNH]

Frankly, your second example is VERY hard to follow the way you have it spaced, at least for me. Being anal retentive about line length does not make this easier to follow for me, it might for you, and that's all that's really important. If I were to get this, I'd run Tidy on it and "fix" the spacing to "normal" so I could see what goes where.

[guinness]

If you want to make your code readable then add (sensible) comments to give an idea of what is happening & it helps you when you come back to the code. Also any reason why you're using the numerical value of the style and not the variable name, for me I have no idea what styles you're using.

Edited December 5, 2011 by guinness

[BrewManNH]

BTW, I believe rcmaehl is referring to having a monospaced font on the forums not in SciTE.

[Melba23]

rcmaehl,

I think I misunderstood your comment about monospaced font above. If you really need a monospaced font in a forum post use [ code]/[ /code] tags - but you lose the pretty colours:

$Image = GUICtrlCreatePic(@ScriptDir & "pic.jpg", @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 1), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 1), @DesktopHeight, 0x00000000, 0x00000200)[/size][/font]
$Clock[0] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowTime(), @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 000, (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Clock[1] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowDate(), @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Input[0] = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 050, 060, 230, 020, 0x00000160, 0x00000228)
$Input[1] = GUICtrlCreateInput("", 280, 040, 050, 020, 0x00000104, 0x00000028)
$Detail = GUICtrlCreateLabel("Enter Password to Lock", 050, 040, 230, 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$Toggle = GUICtrlCreateButton("Lock", 280, 060, 050, 020, 0x0000B300, 0x00000228)

Does that help?

M23

BrewManNH,

Just realised!

Edited December 5, 2011 by Melba23

[rcmaehl]

BTW, I believe rcmaehl is referring to having a monospaced font on the forums not in SciTE.

Yes, I was.

I guess what I'm saying is that I consider code clean if I can find the height/width/x/y/etc of the next control right beneath the previous instead of having to scan the next line looking for it. The code "flows" better and you can easily read the torrent of code that is in front of you.

Example:

Sentence one 10 20 100 20

This is Sentence two 10 40 100 20

Doesn't flow as well as:

[font=courier new,courier,monospace]Sentence one         10 20 100 20[/font]
[font=courier new,courier,monospace]This is Sentence two 10 40 100 20[/font]

Especially when you have a MANY lines of code.

Edited December 5, 2011 by rcmaehl

[guinness]

rcmaehl,

As you've seen everyone is different when it comes to the style of their coding, my style is different to say the likes of Melba's or BrewManNH's & I have a tendency to place variables in alphabetical order, though I wouldn't call this an ' obsessive compulsive disorder.'

[rcmaehl]

If you want to make your code readable then add (sensible) comments to give an idea of what is happening & it helps you when you come back to the code. Also any reason why you're using the numerical value of the style and not the variable name, for me I have no idea what styles you're using.

I prefer to mainly have the function name itself explain what's going on instead of comments as AutoIt scripting generally explains what's going on in itself. (See my D&D character sheet in Example scripts for an example.) The reason I'm using the numerical value for the styles instead of the variable name is because I've memorized the values for all the styles I use. (0x00001000 = Sunken, 0x00000201 = Center Aligned Vertically and Horizontally, 0x10000000 = Show a GUI window by default, I memorize numbers better than letters)

[BrewManNH]

I am a little like that myself at time guinness, I even went to the extremes of finding a lua script that will sort the lines for my globals for me so I don't have to worry about it as I write.

I'm also a little anal about spaces in between lines in code, I tend to delete the blank lines I find in most downloaded or copied code because it assaults my sensibilities.

[guinness]

I am a little like that myself at time guinness

Phew, I was starting to get worried it was just me.

I memorize numbers better than letters

Great, but isn't the whole point of this thread to make your code readable to all or did I miss something? Edited December 5, 2011 by guinness

[rcmaehl]

Phew, I was starting to get worried it was just me.

Generally, I'll sort by variables by character length of the variable then alphabetically, however I start to get discouraged when there's like 50 variables.

[Melba23]

rcmaehl,

You might have memorised the numbers but we mere mortals have not. If I find that a script in the forum asking for help with mumbers in place of the constant names it far less likely that I will even begin to look at it.

And the first thing I usually do when I have copied/downloaded a script from the forum is run Tidy on it - goodness knows how some people can read their own code in the state they post it - which means your nicely spaced-out parameters all vanish.

Making code readable is a very personal thing. All my coding life (over 40 years) I have been criticised for "over commenting" - but am I glad I do when I have to look at it again after several weeks/months. Remember that what works for you does not necessarily work for others. As guinness pointed out, we all have our own little foibles - but the majority of the long-term members here have pretty easy-to-follow coding styles. Perhaps take a look at their work and see if there are tips for your own scripts.

M23

P.S. And you do not have a very serious case of OCD - I know people who really suffer from it and you do not display anywhere near the level of "attention to detail" that they do.

[guinness]

I apologise but I edited my previous post just as you were reading it.

[Bert]

I see what he is getting at and depending on what I'm doing I do somewhat of the same thing. One big difference is I will try to do a loop or function when I find I'm using the same command over and over when all I'm doing is having multiple locations for the controls and the spacing is the same between each one. For example:

$x = 30
$y = 1
Do
$L[$y] = GUICtrlCreateLabel(_NowTime(), @DesktopWidth - (@DesktopWidth / 8), $x, (@DesktopWidth / 8), 020, 0x00001001, 0x00000228)
$y = $y + 1
$x = $x + 30
Until $x = 120

Edited December 5, 2011 by MPH

[guinness]

Foibles, that's a word I don't hear very often

[Melba23]

guinness,

I like using the odd "odd" word - keeps the readers guessing!

M23