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Gemini loves to add idiotic non-functional inline comments. "# Added this function" "# Changed this to fix the issue" No, I know, I was there! This is what co

Gemini loves to add idiotic non-functional inline comments. "# Added this function" "# Changed this to fix the issue" No, I know, I was there! This is what commit messages for, not comments that are only relevant in one PR.

Workaccount2 1y ago
I think it is likely that the comments are more for the model than for the user. I would not be even slightly surprised if verbose coding versions outperformed light commenting versions.
- xmprt 1y ago
  On the other hand, I'm skeptical if that has any impact because these models have thinking tokens where they can put all those comments and attention shouldn't care about how close the tokens are as long as they're within the context window.
  - vikramkr 1y ago
    The excessive comments might help the model when it's called again to re edit the code in the future - wouldn't be surprised if it was optimizing for vibe coding and the redundant comments reinforce the function/intent of the line when it's being modified down the line
oezi 1y ago
And it sure loves removing your carefully inserted comments for human readers.
- sweetjuly 1y ago
  It feels like I'm negotiating with a toddler. If I say nothing, it adds useless comments everywhere. If I tell it to not add comments, it deletes all of my comments. Tell it to put the comments back, and it still throws away half of my comments and rewrites the reset in a less precise way.
macNchz 1y ago
I love when I ask it to remove things and it doesn't want to truly let go, so it leaves a comment instead: # Removed iterMod variable here because it is no longer needed. It's like it spent too much time hanging out with an engineer who doesn't trust version control and prefers to just comment everything out. Still enjoying Gemini 2.5 Pro more than Claude Sonnet these days, though, purely on vibes.
PantaloonFlames 1y ago
Have you tried modifying the system instructions to get it to stop doing that?

Workaccount2 1y ago

I think it is likely that the comments are more for the model than for the user. I would not be even slightly surprised if verbose coding versions outperformed light commenting versions.

xmprt 1y ago
On the other hand, I'm skeptical if that has any impact because these models have thinking tokens where they can put all those comments and attention shouldn't care about how close the tokens are as long as they're within the context window.
- vikramkr 1y ago
  The excessive comments might help the model when it's called again to re edit the code in the future - wouldn't be surprised if it was optimizing for vibe coding and the redundant comments reinforce the function/intent of the line when it's being modified down the line

oezi 1y ago

And it sure loves removing your carefully inserted comments for human readers.

sweetjuly 1y ago
It feels like I'm negotiating with a toddler. If I say nothing, it adds useless comments everywhere. If I tell it to not add comments, it deletes all of my comments. Tell it to put the comments back, and it still throws away half of my comments and rewrites the reset in a less precise way.

macNchz 1y ago

I love when I ask it to remove things and it doesn't want to truly let go, so it leaves a comment instead: # Removed iterMod variable here because it is no longer needed. It's like it spent too much time hanging out with an engineer who doesn't trust version control and prefers to just comment everything out. Still enjoying Gemini 2.5 Pro more than Claude Sonnet these days, though, purely on vibes.

PantaloonFlames 1y ago

Have you tried modifying the system instructions to get it to stop doing that?