(JS/TS is my main language)
I love reduce()! It's a hammer/nail method for me. Everything looks like a problem solvable by reduce. (I'm often wrong on that, but I quite enjoy learning why by trying).
I really like taking the implementation away from the call site, so that the call site reads
const myNewValue = data.reduce(doSomethingMagic);
(and then `doSomethingMagic` is defined somewhere else). So simple.
I failed a job interview once by using reduce() in a coding test. The reviewer didn't understand why I hadn't used a loop. Loops are easier, for sure, but they sprawl and are open to hacking. They can bring in state from outside the loop. They make the call site long (you always have to read the implementation to learn that you don't need to read it). The same interviewer actively liked to have loop bodies modify the loop conditions (e.g. by taking items out of the source array and decrementing the end condition, so the loop would end earlier). That's the kind of "clever" I find unpredictable and hard to think about. Probably a good thing he rejected me.
the_other · · focus · HN ↗
I really like taking the implementation away from the call site, so that the call site reads
(and then `doSomethingMagic` is defined somewhere else). So simple.I failed a job interview once by using reduce() in a coding test. The reviewer didn't understand why I hadn't used a loop. Loops are easier, for sure, but they sprawl and are open to hacking. They can bring in state from outside the loop. They make the call site long (you always have to read the implementation to learn that you don't need to read it). The same interviewer actively liked to have loop bodies modify the loop conditions (e.g. by taking items out of the source array and decrementing the end condition, so the loop would end earlier). That's the kind of "clever" I find unpredictable and hard to think about. Probably a good thing he rejected me.
kenferry · · focus · HN ↗
I agree, but I think that’s kind of the objection. It can be tempting to write your code as little brainteasers but…