3 ms·
Well done code has good variables, good method/function naming and small methods/functions. If you have those 3 parts, you won't need any comments because it's
by mweibel 14y ago
Well done code has good variables, good method/function naming and small methods/functions.
If you have those 3 parts, you won't need any comments because it's self explanatory.
Comments often tend to explain the same thing as the code exactly does and what you see w/o looking at the comment. Also, they tend to be forgotten - if someone changes the code, he/she often doesn't change the comment.
As a result, you'll have an outdated comment which can confuse you.
I recommend "Clean Code"[1] for more info on this subject. Beside other chapters, there's a chapter about what's a good and what's a bad comment.
[1]: http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341586548&sr=8-1&keywords=clean+code http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsman...
- nirvdrum 14y agoI've never come across self-documenting code that can explain "why," which is what I was seeking. The closest thing I've ever come across was a PhD student working on a system called Seurat, but even that was really metadata attached to the code (something akin to an SCM). I agree clean code can help with the "what" or the "how", but that's almost never the problem to begin with. In any event, I was looking for solid examples, not a general discussion on whether comments are good or bad. We clearly are not going to agree on that point so we'll save the Internet another pointless argument :-)
- mweibel 14y agoOk I might have misunderstood you ;) Well I'm not saying comments are generally bad. But I think a lot of comments can be replaced by better code :) Solid examples I can't really show you atm (I'm not yet there where I'd say from myself that I write the cleanest code ever) ;)