The Codeless Code: Case 189 The Dense Forest
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Suku and her apprentices had come to a secluded temple in
the heart of a immense old forest. Here the trees grew so
thick and tall that a raindrop falling on the canopy would
take a full day to reach the ground as it dripped from leaf
to leaf. (As a consequence, the monks in that place could
walk outside during a thunderstorm and remain as dry as
toast, but the next day they would have to set out with
umbrellas open and galoshes on tight, even if the sun was
shining.)
On their last night in the temple, master Suku was reviewing
the code of a senior nun.
“Your methods are exceedingly long,” said the master. “This
one is several hundred lines at least, with nested loops and
logical branches many levels deep. It should be refactored
into at least thirteen separate methods.”
The senior nun laughed. “If I coded your way, a maintainer
would have to first study a dozen different routines to
understand the main one. But with my way, all the code is
visible in one place. And they call you a master!”
The next thing the senior nun remembered was waking alone in
the forest. She put a hand to her throbbing head and
discovered both a fresh lump and a satchel draped around her
neck. Pinned to the satchel was a note:
A shame you slept for so much of our journey through the
woods... many paths wind and cross each other, and it would
be easy to lose yourself forever. But fear not! We have left
you precise directions home.
Inside the satchel the nun found a thick roll of paper, such
as merchants used in their cash registers. The text on the
outside of the roll began:
Stand. Face the clump of moss. Bend right knee, lift right
foot three inches. Step out eighteen inches with right leg
pointed at the nearest oak. Place right foot down. Shift
weight to right foot. Bend left knee—
The senior nun’s concentration was broken by the sound of
wolves howling, very near.
