4 ms·

It's very easy to seem rude in text comments, even if it was not meant that way at all. "Change 'this' to 'that'" is much harsher than "Could you change 'this

by zerd 6y ago

It's very easy to seem rude in text comments, even if it was not meant that way at all. "Change 'this' to 'that'" is much harsher than "Could you change 'this' to 'that'?" It's a small change in wording, but it changes the interpretation from "This is wrong, do this instead, I know better than you" to "I think this is a better way to do it".

luckylion 6y ago
I feel like if this is an issue, there's a larger issue in the team. I've only ever witnessed language be an important issue if people felt overwhelmed, stressed and treated badly. On the other hand, when people feel treated fairly and are happy, most don't care for niceties and prefer straight to the point communication. Especially rewording change requests as questions is something I don't like. Is this something that should be done? Is it just a question about the technical possibility? A request for comments about the intended change? (I've seen them all and the more friendly they are worded, the harder they are to tell apart)
hcarvalhoalves 6y ago
Is it really? I can find instructions disguised as questions condescending, for example. I believe no amount of wording will help if people are not trusting each other. I would rather work on team building than comment guidelines.
- brujoand 6y ago
  Yes and no. It depends on the team and the culture. My favorite was when I worked in a team of only senior engineers we would leave comments like 's/this/that/g other than than LGTM'. This was all that was needed, no fluff. In other teams, a comment like this would have meant a chat with HR. We can't make rules for these things, because people and thus teams are different.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  But instructions are given by superiors, while code reviews (generally) by peers. If someone you don't respect starts barking "Change 'this' to 'that'", would you? I mean sure, in some cases you can completely disassociate from the human side of code, disregard a comment's name in favor of objective truth or however you want to word it, but in a lot of instances you still have to share the same office with that person.

by zerd 6y ago

luckylion 6y ago

I feel like if this is an issue, there's a larger issue in the team. I've only ever witnessed language be an important issue if people felt overwhelmed, stressed and treated badly. On the other hand, when people feel treated fairly and are happy, most don't care for niceties and prefer straight to the point communication. Especially rewording change requests as questions is something I don't like. Is this something that should be done? Is it just a question about the technical possibility? A request for comments about the intended change? (I've seen them all and the more friendly they are worded, the harder they are to tell apart)

hcarvalhoalves 6y ago

Is it really? I can find instructions disguised as questions condescending, for example. I believe no amount of wording will help if people are not trusting each other. I would rather work on team building than comment guidelines.

brujoand 6y ago
Yes and no. It depends on the team and the culture. My favorite was when I worked in a team of only senior engineers we would leave comments like 's/this/that/g other than than LGTM'. This was all that was needed, no fluff. In other teams, a comment like this would have meant a chat with HR. We can't make rules for these things, because people and thus teams are different.
Cthulhu_ 6y ago
But instructions are given by superiors, while code reviews (generally) by peers. If someone you don't respect starts barking "Change 'this' to 'that'", would you? I mean sure, in some cases you can completely disassociate from the human side of code, disregard a comment's name in favor of objective truth or however you want to word it, but in a lot of instances you still have to share the same office with that person.