3 ms·
Fully agree with the author here. I write comments that "repeat the code" all the time, and I like to read them in other people's code. It allows the reader to
by gregschlom 5y ago
Fully agree with the author here. I write comments that "repeat the code" all the time, and I like to read them in other people's code. It allows the reader to quickly skim through large portions of code without having to fully decode each line.
Obviously, I'm not talking about comment like this (which I see all the time):
// adds 1 to x
x += 1;
That is certainly useless, even annoying. But a small comment every 2-3 lines to explain the following 2 to 3 lines is generally very useful.
- themodelplumber 5y agoIt's funny to recall that when I was about 11 years old, 30+ years ago, I would have thanked you profusely for that comment, instantly unraveling the += mystery.
- dmurray 5y agoBut in hindsight, it wouldn't be a good comment, because that information is misplaced. The perfect time for you to encounter that comment is the first time you ever encounter the += operator, not every time you encounter it. I generally think you shouldn't comment to explain your use of a language feature, even an unusual one. The exception: when there exists an idiomatic alternative which you intentionally didn't use, then a comment can explain why.
- IlliOnato 5y ago... or when the feature is counter-intuitive and actively confusing, like "oct" and "hex" operators in Perl that do opposite of what one not familiar with them would guess. Even after many years of programming in Perl I found comments like # FROM hex, not TO hex! useful.