Nulls cause problems. Usually, they’re not big problems, but if a field might have a value- or none at all- we have to be careful with how we handle it.

Languages like C# have added Nullable types, which wrap around those problems. But sometimes, you need to cross a boundary between systems. When you send the C# data to JSON, how do you want to represent null values?

Heidi is doing some support work and maintenance on a application owned by a government agency. Currently, the work environment is a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare where you can’t do even the mildest code change without going through four hundred layers of paperwork, signoff, and consensus building. This isn’t just normal government stuff- it’s coming straight as a reaction to the previous work done on this project.

Heidi was specifically trying to track down a bug where one of the generated documents was displaying incorrect data. That lead her to this method in their C# web code:

When using generic types in a language like Java, nesting generics is a code smell. That is to say, a type like List<Map<String, T>> is probably a sign that you've gone off the path and should rethink how you're structuring your program. Similarly, types that depend on more than one or two generic type parameters are probably a code smell as well.

If those are a "code smell" this code Adam S found is a "code sewage treatment plan in dire need of a visit from the Environmental Protection Agency".

Karl supplies us with an unusual bit of code. In the vein of a "true confession", it's code Karl wrote. In the vein of a good WTF, it had to be written like this because of bad choices made earlier in the pipeline.

But the code itself isn't a WTF. It's not good, but… well…