CodeSOD: Classic WTF: Time for a tblHoliday
It's a holiday in the US today, which tracking the dates on which holidays fall is always a complicated, fraught proposition. Let's dig back into the archives for a classic article which can help us celebrate this holiday. This article originally ran waaaaaay back in 2006. --Remy
For most, the New Year is great occasion: not only is it kicked off with a big bash, but it's so easy to trick yourself in feeling like you have a "clean slate", setting all sorts of great goals and resolutions, and just all-around feeling good. But for some programmers, like Dave Sussman, it's not so joyous of an occasion; each change of the year is like a mini-Y2K. These programmers are the guys who get to maintain systems with comments like ...
//I doubt this script will be in use two years //from now, so this should be fine for now ...
When 2006 hit, Dave got to learn about a database table named tblHoliday. It's hard to say what's more off: the fact that the original programmer had the hindsight to backdate the holidays to 1975, but just couldn't comprehend that the system might last more than four years, or the technique used to store and retrieve whether or not a specific date is a holiday (or, apparently, weekend) ...
SELECT * FROM tblHoliday--+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+| intYear | blnaryHoliday |+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+| ... | ... |+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+| | NYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNN || | YYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNY || 1995 | YYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYY || | YYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYY || | YYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYY || | YNNYYYYYNN |+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+| | YYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNY || | YYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYY || | YYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYY || 1996 | YYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYY || | YNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYYNNYYYYY || | NNYYYYYNNYY |+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+| ... | ... |+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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