Code consistency vs using new features

Ricardo Valencia — Wed, 13 Jun 2018 22:43:31 +0000

So, lets say you added a new feature to an existing Java project, and when adding unit test you see that other similar tests are using null checks:

if(value != null){
    assertEquals("Value should be 10", 10, value);
}

But you know about Optionals so your test could look like:

Optional.ofNullable(value).ifPresent(value ->
    assertEquals("Value should be 10", 10, value)
);

Another example could be type annotations in Python

Which is more important to you? Keep the code consistent but not using new features or use new features even if code will end up looking inconsistent?

Only considering that using or not using new features is not a decision based on performance, security or any other concern

My initial approach would be keep it consistent but add a low priority task to refactor code if/when necessary, but curious to find out what others think.

DEV Community: Ricardo Valencia

Code consistency vs using new features