Spaghetti Code

        Letter to the Editor
        CROSSTALK, Journal of Defense Software Engineering

  The mention of "a feast of spaghetti code" ("Computer Collectives", CrossTalk,
April/May 1992) prompted this response:

  Nearly every software professional has heard the term spaghetti code as a
pejorative description for complicated, difficult to understand, and impossible
to maintain, software.  However, many people may not know the other two 
elements of the complete Pasta Theory of Software.

  Lasagna code is used to describe software that has a simple, understandable,
and layered structure.  Lasagna code, although structured, is unfortunately
monolithic and not easy to modify.  An attempt to change one layer conceptually
simple, is often very difficult in actual practice.

  The ideal software structure is one having components that are small and
loosely coupled; this ideal structure is called ravioli code.  In ravioli 
code, each of the components, or objects, is a package containing some meat
or other nourishment for the system; any component can be modified or replaced
without significantly affecting other components.

  We need to go beyond the condemnation of spaghetti code to the active
encouragement of ravioli code.

                                                Raymond J. Rubey
                                                SoftTech, Inc.
                                                3100 Presidential Drive
                                                Fairborn, OH  45324
                                                Voice:  513-429-8291

This one is contributed by Luca Nanetti

Pure Java code: ZUPPA DI FAGIOLI CODE (italian for "beans soup");
Internet apps with HTML, XML, etc, plus Java things: PASTA E FAGIOLI CODE (italian for "beans soup with pasta chunks");
Bad OOP programming:few huge and absurdely complicated objects: CANEDERLI CODE (two big boiled balls of bread, eggs, milk and meat; very good!)
Bad OOP programming: a confusing lot of very, very little objects all interacting together: RISOTTO CODE (rice)
Monolitical, non-object-oriented, non-procedural, non-structured code, but so wonderful, so good, so brilliant that glows like a big bright yellow sun: POLENTA CODE.

Other humor in the GNU Humor Collection.

Disclaimer

Please send FSF & GNU inquiries & questions to gnu@gnu.org. There are also other ways to contact the FSF.

Please send comments on these web pages to webmasters@gnu.org, send other questions to gnu@gnu.org.

Copyright (C) 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111, USA

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.

Updated: 8 Apr 2000 tower