Post #1649852

2026-04-22 14:22 UTC

Can code be objectively good? Objectively is doing a lot of work here so let me be very clear. I&#39;m thinking in terms of something like if a hypothesis in science is good. - testable / falsifiable - specific, makes a clear prediction - consistent with existing evidence - parsimonious, that it&#39;s simple - fruitful, leads somewhere 1/

Replies (2)

@raiderrobert@mastodon.social 2026-04-22 14:22

Code coverage has been taken as a measure of code quality, whether code is a good, at least in a specific dimension. In some senses, it functions to answer if code good. But usually by its absence as indicator rather than its presence as a predictor. That is to say, I can get 100% code coverage on buggy code and 0% code coverage on well performing code. It's not common, but it is possible. So I return to the question: can code be objectively good? idk, that's why I'm asking you all here. 2/

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@david42@mastodon.online 2026-04-22 14:56

@raiderrobert@mastodon.social Code is good if it is fit for purpose. Without knowing the purpose, one is left to make assumptions about the purpose, and ask if the code is fit to that assumed purpose. An example of buggy code is a good example only if it has the specific bugs being demonstrated. A candidate busy beaver program is good only if it is in fact very slow. 1/

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