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Commented out code is a terrible idea. It is the reason you look at source code and see it filled with garbage. When you have a developer who has no confidence

Commented out code is a terrible idea. It is the reason you look at source code and see it filled with garbage. When you have a developer who has no confidence in their code then you ask the usual question about requirements, testing, code review, etc. If it's still not committed then there's clearly a developer issue to workout with management. When a developer fails to follow through on their tasks and takes extra time then this increases the budget of a project.

codegladiator 6y ago
I understand I have put that up almost without any context, so let me add some. It was(is) a (very) huge project which is still in development (my last interaction was more than 3 years ago) being built by a very big company in tech space, and various parts of it were outsourced to various vendors (including Indian software shops) and I was consultant to one such vendor. There were huge number of layers of management, while all the usual questions you mentioned would have the answer "yes". So yeah the devs were in general scared about the code and management both. They wouldn't ask questions, just say "yes" to everything.
chokeartist 6y ago
> Commented out code is a terrible idea. I have no idea what your context for such a statement is but I can tell you in my career as both an IC and now as pseudo-Management (Product Manager), commented out code has saved me many a times. Why? Very simple scenario. We hit issue X, dev Y has what they think is a fix... but they are not super familiar with the code base. They put the fix it, and keep the prior function/logic commented out. If dev Z needs to review this (assuming dev Y has left the org), the history is right there. The inverse is I have had to contact former employees to help me/us understand X. And anyone worth their salt isn't going to consult for free :).

codegladiator 6y ago

I understand I have put that up almost without any context, so let me add some. It was(is) a (very) huge project which is still in development (my last interaction was more than 3 years ago) being built by a very big company in tech space, and various parts of it were outsourced to various vendors (including Indian software shops) and I was consultant to one such vendor. There were huge number of layers of management, while all the usual questions you mentioned would have the answer "yes". So yeah the devs were in general scared about the code and management both. They wouldn't ask questions, just say "yes" to everything.

chokeartist 6y ago

> Commented out code is a terrible idea. I have no idea what your context for such a statement is but I can tell you in my career as both an IC and now as pseudo-Management (Product Manager), commented out code has saved me many a times. Why? Very simple scenario. We hit issue X, dev Y has what they think is a fix... but they are not super familiar with the code base. They put the fix it, and keep the prior function/logic commented out. If dev Z needs to review this (assuming dev Y has left the org), the history is right there. The inverse is I have had to contact former employees to help me/us understand X. And anyone worth their salt isn't going to consult for free :).