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Magic Numbers are a Production Risk

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text pl=”0″ pr=”0″ pt=”0″ pb=”0″]This code insight counts one violation each time a litteral numeric constant is encountered, that is not assigned to a constant.

• interger : (0|0[xX])?[0123456789ABCDEF]+([lL]?

• decimal : ([0-9]*\.[0-9]+|[0-9]+\.)

• real : [0-9]+[eE][+-]?[0-9]+

exception 

• one digit integer
• 0.0, .0, 0.
• 1.0

Note : a constant is a variable assigned only one time in its scope.

example:

PI = 3.14          # not a violation because assigned to a constant
CONST = 123 * 456  # 2 violations : the assignation is an expression (containing 2 Magics)
a = 12             # violation because assigned to a variable
if (b):
    a = b

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Why you should care

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text pl=”0″ pr=”0″ pt=”0″ pb=”0″]It is recommended to use constants as default values for arguments in a function or method. This is cleaner, easier to read and there’s only one place to modify. Make sure, you document your constant, to explain where the value comes from.

Highlight :

Avoid litteral numeric constants.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text pl=”0″ pr=”0″ pt=”0″ pb=”0″]

Business Impacts

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CAST recommendations

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References

https://www.quantifiedcode.com/knowledge-base/maintainability/Use%20constants%20as%20default%20values%20for%20arguments/24kTDwfL[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_single_image image=”5362″ img_link_large=”” img_link_target=”_self” img_size=”full” alignment=”none”][vc_column_text pl=”0″ pr=”0″ pt=”0″ pb=”0″]

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