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[Nmh-workers] Re: Questionable code - the bigger picture

2005-05-17 11:37:28
Jon Steinhart <jon(_at_)fourwinds(_dot_)com> writes:

In other words, I'm trying to incrementally revamp the code. So I
don't just want to put off all changes for some future grand
revamping, because I don't expect that that will ever happen.

That's probably true, so incremental refactoring seems reasonable.

So what's the best way to go about this sort of thing?

Given the maturity, distribution, and complexity of the code, I would
suggest that any refactorings should be supported by unit tests. I
haven't looked at the MH code in a long, long time, but there weren't
any tests last time I looked, so the first step is to produce a unit
test framework with a "make test" entry point. Once this framework is
in place, you can produce a unit test which exercises the code you
intend to change. Then change it with confidence.

So aside from this, the change that I would like to make is to
collect all of the context handling functions into single
sbr/context.c file.

Encapsulation is good.

-- 
Bill Wohler <wohler(_at_)newt(_dot_)com>  http://www.newt.com/wohler/  GnuPG 
ID:610BD9AD
Maintainer of comp.mail.mh FAQ and MH-E. Vote Libertarian!
If you're passed on the right, you're in the wrong lane.



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