Re: [Qemu-devel] [PATCH 0/3] Fix broken if statements

[Stefan Weil]

Am 01.08.2010 19:25, schrieb Andreas Färber:
> Am 22.07.2010 um 18:18 schrieb Stefan Weil:
>
> > Am 21.07.2010 22:05, schrieb Joel Schopp:
> > > I have decided to apply the broken window theory of crime
> > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory to code, and
> > > more specifically to qemu[:]
>
> > > I'm hoping that fixing seemingly trivial
> > > bugs will actually fix some more serious bugs, make the code run
> > > just a bit smoother, or at the very least leave us with easier to
> > > maintain code.
>
> > > Joel Schopp (3):
> > > remove dead code from hw/loader.c
> > > fix variable type in qemu-io.c
> > > remove pointless if from vl.c
> [...]
> > How did you apply the broken window theory of crime to software code?
> > Is this still a secret, or can you tell us more?
>
> If you consider Coding Style and Best Practice violations a crime 
> (vandalism / broken window), then e.g. removing dead code is to 
> prevent future code dead-on-arrival and - as criminal escalation - bugs.
>
> Applying it further might mean that someone could provide a patch 
> either adding or removing braces for all single line statements in the 
> code base so that the broken window argument (someone broke the rule 
> so I can, too) no longer holds for new patches arriving. :)
>
> Regards,
> Andreas

Agreed.

I should have been more precise in formulating my question:

Is there some magic (= tool) which detected these "broken windows"
in hw/loader.c, qemu-io.c and vl.c, or was it just a manual code
review or luck?

It's not too difficult to write a tool which detects most typical violations
of coding style (Aurelien suggested such a filter for git), but Joel's 
"broken
windows" are less obvious.

Regards
Stefan