3 ms·

I prefer comments like "I'm sorry about this, I know it's ugly but I'm in a rush and it's the quickest way to get it working"

stronglikedan 8mo ago
As long as there's a "TODO" tag in the comment to easily search for, then I prefer those comments as well.
- culi 8mo ago
  I prefer all "TODO" comments to be well-defined and have a specific ticket number attached to them to ensure they are tracked. I don't see any harm to the occasional "I'm sorry" or humorous comment
  - e28eta 8mo ago
    My first team figured that out after a year or so. If it’s really TODO, it should either be addressed before the WIP feature is considered “completed”, or it needs to show up in our work tracking system. Otherwise it just fell through the cracks and would never be prioritized.
- hinkley 8mo ago
  The number of people I know who honor TODOs is pretty slim, but I find it does in fact help if you get people to stick their initials next to it. Over enough refactors a TODO can lose its meaning and author. TODO (DKH) - This should handle negative numbers can be helpful later if there's nothing in the requirements about negative numbers. Why do we need to handle negative numbers? Is it for some mystery feature? Performance? Security? What? Why? 'DKH' might recall what they were thinking if you prompt them. We see what we want to see, and a TODO when we are in a hurry probably won't trigger much guilt or associated motivation to do something about it. Or at least, not as much as if we see our own initials in the TODO. (Also handy when prepping a commit, since you might have left breadcrumbs in case you get interrupted, and then forget one or two of the tasks you still had outstanding afterward)
jimbokun 8mo ago
Would your Grandma approve of you introducing that technical debt? That’s why it’s important to write comments as if to your grandparents. For the feelings of accountability that it engenders.

stronglikedan 8mo ago

As long as there's a "TODO" tag in the comment to easily search for, then I prefer those comments as well.

culi 8mo ago
I prefer all "TODO" comments to be well-defined and have a specific ticket number attached to them to ensure they are tracked. I don't see any harm to the occasional "I'm sorry" or humorous comment
- e28eta 8mo ago
  My first team figured that out after a year or so. If it’s really TODO, it should either be addressed before the WIP feature is considered “completed”, or it needs to show up in our work tracking system. Otherwise it just fell through the cracks and would never be prioritized.
hinkley 8mo ago
The number of people I know who honor TODOs is pretty slim, but I find it does in fact help if you get people to stick their initials next to it. Over enough refactors a TODO can lose its meaning and author. TODO (DKH) - This should handle negative numbers can be helpful later if there's nothing in the requirements about negative numbers. Why do we need to handle negative numbers? Is it for some mystery feature? Performance? Security? What? Why? 'DKH' might recall what they were thinking if you prompt them. We see what we want to see, and a TODO when we are in a hurry probably won't trigger much guilt or associated motivation to do something about it. Or at least, not as much as if we see our own initials in the TODO. (Also handy when prepping a commit, since you might have left breadcrumbs in case you get interrupted, and then forget one or two of the tasks you still had outstanding afterward)

jimbokun 8mo ago

Would your Grandma approve of you introducing that technical debt? That’s why it’s important to write comments as if to your grandparents. For the feelings of accountability that it engenders.