Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

Cognitive Complexity

Cognitive Complexity is a measure of how difficult a unit of code is to intuitively understand. Unlike Cyclomatic Complexity, which determines how difficult your code will be to test, Cognitive Complexity tells you how difficult your code will be to read and comprehend.

A method's cognitive complexity is based on a few simple rules:

• Code is not considered more complex when it uses shorthand that the language provides for collapsing multiple statements into one
• Code is considered more complex for each "break in the linear flow of the code"
• Code is considered more complex when "flow breaking structures are nested"

Further reading

• Cognitive Complexity docs
• Cognitive Complexity: A new way of measuring understandability

Cyclomatic Complexity

Cyclomatic Complexity corresponds to the number of decisions a block of code contains plus 1. This number (also called McCabe number) is equal to the number of linearly independent paths through the code. This number can be used as a guide when testing conditional logic in blocks.

Radon analyzes the AST tree of a Python program to compute Cyclomatic Complexity. Statements have the following effects on Cyclomatic Complexity:

Source: http://radon.readthedocs.org/en/latest/intro.html

Cyclomatic Complexity

Cyclomatic Complexity corresponds to the number of decisions a block of code contains plus 1. This number (also called McCabe number) is equal to the number of linearly independent paths through the code. This number can be used as a guide when testing conditional logic in blocks.

Radon analyzes the AST tree of a Python program to compute Cyclomatic Complexity. Statements have the following effects on Cyclomatic Complexity:

Source: http://radon.readthedocs.org/en/latest/intro.html

Cyclomatic Complexity

Cyclomatic Complexity corresponds to the number of decisions a block of code contains plus 1. This number (also called McCabe number) is equal to the number of linearly independent paths through the code. This number can be used as a guide when testing conditional logic in blocks.

Radon analyzes the AST tree of a Python program to compute Cyclomatic Complexity. Statements have the following effects on Cyclomatic Complexity:

Source: http://radon.readthedocs.org/en/latest/intro.html

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 263.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 263.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 239.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 239.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 51.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 51.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Duplicated Code

Duplicated code can lead to software that is hard to understand and difficult to change. The Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) principle states:

Every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous, authoritative representation within a system.

When you violate DRY, bugs and maintenance problems are sure to follow. Duplicated code has a tendency to both continue to replicate and also to diverge (leaving bugs as two similar implementations differ in subtle ways).

Tuning

This issue has a mass of 51.

We set useful threshold defaults for the languages we support but you may want to adjust these settings based on your project guidelines.

The threshold configuration represents the minimum mass a code block must have to be analyzed for duplication. The lower the threshold, the more fine-grained the comparison.

If the engine is too easily reporting duplication, try raising the threshold. If you suspect that the engine isn't catching enough duplication, try lowering the threshold. The best setting tends to differ from language to language.

See codeclimate-duplication's documentation for more information about tuning the mass threshold in your .codeclimate.yml.

Refactorings

• Extract Method
• Extract Class
• Form Template Method
• Introduce Null Object
• Pull Up Method
• Pull Up Field
• Substitute Algorithm

Further Reading

• Don't Repeat Yourself on the C2 Wiki
• Duplicated Code on SourceMaking
• Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code by Martin Fowler. Duplicated Code, p76

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Comparison to singletons should use "is" or "is not".

Comparisons to singletons like None should always be done
with "is" or "is not", never the equality operators.

Okay: if arg is not None:
E711: if arg != None:
E711: if None == arg:
E712: if arg == True:
E712: if False == arg:

Also, beware of writing if x when you really mean if x is not None
-- e.g. when testing whether a variable or argument that defaults to
None was set to some other value.  The other value might have a type
(such as a container) that could be false in a boolean context!

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

When catching exceptions, mention specific exceptions when possible.

Okay: except Exception:
Okay: except BaseException:
E722: except:

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x

Avoid extraneous whitespace.

Avoid extraneous whitespace in these situations:
- Immediately inside parentheses, brackets or braces.
- Immediately before a comma, semicolon, or colon.

Okay: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam( ham[1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[ 1], {eggs: 2})
E201: spam(ham[1], { eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2} )
E202: spam(ham[1 ], {eggs: 2})
E202: spam(ham[1], {eggs: 2 })

E203: if x == 4: print x, y; x, y = y , x
E203: if x == 4: print x, y ; x, y = y, x
E203: if x == 4 : print x, y; x, y = y, x