3 ms·
As a fairly junior programmer, I'll play devil's advocate on the Bad bit – I find that kind of thing very helpful sometimes. Having plain english demarcations f
by RickS 8y ago
As a fairly junior programmer, I'll play devil's advocate on the Bad bit – I find that kind of thing very helpful sometimes. Having plain english demarcations for what a piece of logic does – or where in the loop something is – can shave 80% off the time it takes to get reacclimatized when needing to make a quick change. There are moments when I know the conceptual bit that needs changing, and would prefer to hunt it in english rather than spend time translating on the fly.
- jonahx 8y agoTwo relevant points here: 1. My comment assumes the code itself is well-written and clear. If it is, the plain English explanation will be superfluous, and you'll be able to understand the code just as fast. If it's not, then the comment was the wrong solution to a real problem. The correct solution is to rewrite the code. 2. What counts as "well-written code you can understand instantly" is of course experience-dependent. And not just "years of experience" dependent, but primarily "familiarity with the paradigm and style of coding experience" dependent. Steve Yegge talks about over-commenting by junior developers here: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/02/portrait-of-n00b.html http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/02/portrait-of-n00b.htm... I don't include that to be insulting, but because it tracks with my own experience as well.