Ugly Code

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I hate having to write ugly code.  (Yes, this is another Delphi hate.)

I like the fact that Delphi supports exceptions; they make error handling
easier:

try
  // code
  // code
  // code
except
  on EFooError do
  begin
    // handle error
  end;
end;

Exceptions also necessitate cleanup clauses.  In Delphi that's
try...finally:

try
  ...
finally
  // cleanup
end;

Of, course, many times, you want to both handle errors and clean up
allocated resources.  This is where Delphi gets ugly:

try
  try
    ...
  except
    on EError1 do
    begin
      ...
    end;
    on EError2 do
    begin
      ...
    end;
  end;
finally
  ...
end;

And don't forget that if you raise an exception in a finally clause it
clobbers the preceeding exception:

try
  try
    ...
  except
    on Exception do
    begin
      ...
    end;
  end;
finally
  try
    ...
  except
    on Exception do
    begin
      ...
    end;
  end;
end;

Ugh.

Not to start any language wars, but there are other syntaxes that I find
much more attractive.  For example:

(if (null (catch 'exception
            (unwind-protect
              (code)
              (cleanup))))
    (handle-error))

(Granted, it's less structured than Delphi, so the programmer has to
impose his own structure, but it *looks nicer*.)

-- 
...computer contrarian of the first order... / http://aperiodic.net/phil/
PGP: 026A27F2  print: D200 5BDB FC4B B24A 9248  9F7A 4322 2D22 026A 27F2
--- --
That's the thing about people who think they hate computers.  What they
really hate is lousy programmers.
                       -- _Oath of Fealty_, Larry Niven and Jerry
                          Pournelle
---- --- --

• Ugly Code Phil!Gregory 19:02 on 07 Apr 2005

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