Code style issue: too long functions

[and-ivanov]

Python google styleguide

Prefer small and focused functions. If a function exceeds about 40 lines, think about whether it can be broken up without harming the structure of the program.

Example

https://github.com/spcl/dace/blob/6e91853c0f4fa06ebdd8672e52b478f9b7219873/dace/transformation/dataflow/map_fusion.py#L194

Pros

• More opportunities to reuse
• Easier to see what function does by reading called function names, without looking into the implementation of these functions

Possible solution

Split long functions into small functions across the boundaries defined by comments between chunks of block.

Before

def foo():
  # do action X
  some code
  # do action Y
  some code

After

def do_action_X(...):
   some code
def do_action_Y(...):
   some code
def foo():
  do_action_X(...)
  do_action_Y(...)

[definelicht]

Agree, we did something like this for unparse_tasklet, for example. I would like to specifically mention memlet_copy_to_absolute_strides (in fact, after using it many times, I still don't really understand what this function does).

[alexnick83]

I agree. This is a matter of identifying what methods would be suitable for replacing the original one. We can make a list of candidate methods and work on them when there is time.

[acalotoiu]

The difficulty is that this is hard to figure out in advance, and finding time is always a nightmare. Even though we all agree I suspect that unless we have some dedicated slot to do this stuff - something like a once every X months we spend 1-2 evenings on this, I am afraid this will always be pushed back by urgent stuff.