“Code is read more often than it is written”
– common programming adage
As someone who often has to look at/modify QlikView script written by others, I have come to appreciate the value of readable script. Rather than taking an “if it works, it works” attitude, I always try to write my script with readability and consistency in mind. Somewhere down the line someone else (or worse, you) might have to decipher what a specific script is doing in order to modify or extend it.
Today I want to ask your opinion on the readability of a specific part of the QlikView script, indentation of aliases within LOAD statements. To this end, I’ve taken a piece of script from the QlikView System Monitor and formatted the aliases in three different ways. (note: I don’t agree with the absence of white space in functions and between operators, but have left that as is)
Have a look at the three options, and then please answer the two multiple choice questions below.