I've been tasked with overhauling a fairly large web-system that requires much user input. In an attempt to instruct the users when making input, the original creators has made extensive use of feedback structures like help texts and tool-tips.The problem for me is that all the text material used for user feedback is written directly in the source code; either as variables and constants, in plain HTML tags or even in the SQL-model. Since my knowledge of this system is limited to only a few months of experience it is difficult for me to get an overview of all the utilized material, let alone find it's source. Now I am thinking of doing something about it.What is good practice when dealing with data integrated in source code? In my case I would prefer to have all text data loaded from a structured external source. In terms of refactoring this is perhaps best practice, especially if someone who is not a programmer is tasked with modifying the data later on. However, separating content from it's place of use adds to the complexity and decoupling of the program.
What is good practice when dealing with data integrated in the source code?
programming practices;coding standards
Interspersing large amounts of data with program logic is so bad that added complexity in your code base is a cheap price to pay for it. Make the transformation, and you'll probably be rewarded with additional of opportunities for refactoring to simplicity.