THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY November 29, 2002 Pasta Theory of Programming ______________ TODAY'S SPONSOR: VeriSign - The Value of Trust
Secure all your Web servers now - with a proven 5-part strategy. The FREE Server Security Guide shows you how to: - DEPLOY THE LATEST ENCRYPTION and authentication techniques - DELIVER TRANSPARENT PROTECTION with the strongest security without disrupting users. And more. Get your FREE Guide now: http://WhatIs.com/r/0,,7807,00.htm?freeguide ______________ TODAY'S WORD: Pasta Theory of Programming See our definition with hyperlinks at http://searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci866378,00.html The Pasta Theory of Programming is the idea that various programming structures can be likened to the structures of well-known pasta dishes. The first and most famous example of the theory is spaghetti code, which illustrates the unfortunate tendency of unstructured procedural programming to result in code with little or no structure, making it difficult to understand and update. In contrast, lasagna code is said to resemble structured programming, which has an easily understood, layered structure. However, because of unpredictable interdependencies between modules or units of code, the program may be difficult to modify. And ravioli code is analogous to object-oriented programming (OOP), because it is made up of small, separate, and loosely coupled objects that can be individually modified without affecting the other components or the structure as a whole. The Pasta Theory of programming is attributed to Raymond Rubey of SofTech Inc. In a 1992 letter to the editor of CrossTalk magazine, Rubey exhorted developers to "go beyond the condemnation of spaghetti code to the active encouragement of ravioli code." RELATED TERMS: spaghetti code http://searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci864593,00.html structured programming http://searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid8_gci866374,00.html object-oriented programming http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci212681,00.html ______________________ SELECTED LINKS: Gnu.org maintains a copy of Raymond Rubey's letter. http://www.gnu.org/fun/jokes/pasta.code.html Cunningham and Cunningham offers more information about ravioli code. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RavioliCode ______________________ QUIZ #32 | Securing Your Network How much do you know about network security? Take our latest quiz and find out. >> Take the quiz http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci857673,00.html ______________________ CROSSWORD PUZZLE #6 | Wireless Improve your flexible thinking skills. Print out the puzzle and keep it nearby to work on throughout your day! http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci861329,00.html ______________________ REAL-LIFE CHALLENGE #19 | XP Pro or Win2k Pro? It's upgrade time. The branch office manager at Company X would like his staff to have "the best", which he thinks is XP Pro. The head of IT thinks that Win2k Pro is a better choice, but admits he's never worked with XP. Can you advise? http://whatis.discussions.techtarget.com/WebX?[EMAIL PROTECTED]@.1dcfae0e/169 ______________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS AND UPDATES [1] matter http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci865252,00.html [2] core router http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci865184,00.html [3] vertical interval time code http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci865178,00.html [4] plasma http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci864603,00.html [5] instruction http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212356,00.html ____________________________________________________________________ ::::::::::::::::::: WHATIS.COM CONTACTS ::::::::::::::::::: LOWELL THING, Site Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ____________________________________________________________________ MARGARET ROUSE, Associate Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ___________________________________________________________________ :::::::::::::::::::: ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ::::::::::::::::::::: Published by TechTarget (http://www.techtarget.com) TechTarget - The Most Targeted IT Media Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved. If you would like to sponsor this or any TechTarget newsletter, please contact Gabrielle DeRussy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from 'Word of the Day' - Simply Reply to this Email with REMOVE within the Body or Subject > or - Go to: http://WhatIs.techtarget.com/register - Log in to edit your profile. - Click on the link to Edit email subscriptions. - Uncheck the box next to the newsletter you wish to unsubscribe from. - When finished, click "Save Changes to My Profile."