Recently I was doing something that I enjoy viz. buying vegetables in a comfortably spaced, air-conditioned shop at a time in the morning when the Sun is just out into visibility, with a music that is gently exploring the devotional spirit.

It goes without saying that I was carrying a ‘hit-list’ of vegetables that will accompany me back home. It just struck me that the list could be viewed from a two-dimensional matrix perspective i.e., ease of picking and ease of cutting or processing. This triggered a series of thoughts juxtaposing ‘cooking’ and ‘coding’.

One of the priority choices that day was ladies finger aka Okra (with abelmoschus esculentus as its botanical name), considering the ease with which it lends itself to the cutting process and faster cooking! But significant efforts have to be put in during the selection phase.

Unit Testing

Firstly, every piece of ladies’ finger must be subjected to a break-test – the tip has to be gently twisted. If it breaks away easily it passes a selection criterion, else if it simply bends without breaking it has to be rejected. We may think that it is only a tip of the iceberg 😊 On the coding front, a fairly disliked process by the coders/developers is unit testing which mandates that the smallest testable part of an application is individually scrutinized for proper operation. Neither can we grab and stash a bunch of ladies’ fingers in the shopping basket, nor can we check-in a bunch of code that has not been unit-tested!

Modular

Secondly, the length and diameter of the ladies’ finger matters – the longer or stouter, the riskier as it may tend to be over-ripe or leathery or harder. On the contrary, shorter and slimmer ones are more likely to be tender and fit for consumption. In the world of coding, long-winding codes (spaghetti coding) are susceptible for incorrectness or bugs. It is generally advisable to write pieces of codes which are short, clear and crisp.

Code Review

Thirdly, visible damages (small holes or blemishes) are pointers to black insects inside the vegetable, which could pop out while chopping. Similarly, it is advisable for a coder/developer to inspect the code with a freshness of mind, a code-walk as it is called. While the implementation could be attempted in different ways and with different tools, the essence is examination.

Code Comments

Fourthly, the brighter and greener ones are given the preference considering they tend to be fresher. I could equate this to the art of comments (again not a popular thing amongst coders!) embedded inside the code. As much as the brightness and greenness of a ladies finger conveys its quality, a well-commented code portrays that level of clarity and confidence.

And seeing the title, if you thought that this is a women’s day article, why not – Women continue to prove to be good technologists 😊

Some references!

https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/unit-testing#:~:text=Unit%20testing%20is%20a%20software,independently%20scrutinized%20for%20proper%20operation

https://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jfr/article/download/20200/14195#:~:text=Several%20desirable%20quality%20characteristics%20of,smaller%20fruits%20are%20commonly%20accepted

Simplify – a key element in Yashmian Philosophy