Programming Question

Lost User

"My code doesn't need comments because it is self documenting, all methods are small and have single functionality, and any business documentation should be provided by the specification and not the code." Discuss.

MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

PIEBALDconsult

Must be nice where you work.

Lost User

I wasn't clear - this was a quote from a cow-worker. My comments, unfortunately, were not KSS so I couldn't post them here.

MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

Lost User

If you don't need comments you're not doing it right, sunshine.

AspDotNetDev

Simples:

double CalculateTax(double fine) {
var notAComment1 = "Calculate the tax based on the rate from the database.";
return fine * GetTaxRate();
}

Seriously, though, I like comments, even for private members. And I like everything (except for constants and member variables, which typically have a corresponding property) to have a comment. I mostly read the comments rather than the code when I'm quickly navigating through code. I don't want a funky looking uncommented section to slow me down. I also write XML comments so intellisense helps me avoid having to go to the definition to find more info.

Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

Lost User

I think comments are worth their weight so ling as they are written well - describing the business reasons not the technology (unless the tech is crafty, unusual or complex) when I sit down to write a method, I start by calling it something

public double CalculateTax(double fine)
{
}

Then I comment it

///
/// Calculate the tax, taking into account the fine passed.
/// Requires that the tax rate is retrievable from the TaxService
///

Then I might write some test code just to get it building

///
/// Calculate the tax, taking into account the fine passed.
/// Requires that the tax rate is retrievable from the TaxService
///
public double CalculateTax(double fine)
{
// TODO: Perform the tax calculation
return 34567.89;
}

Then I start to flesh out the method by way of comments

///
/// Calculate the tax, taking into account the fine passed.
/// Requires that the tax rate is retrievable from the TaxService
///
public double CalculateTax(double fine)
{
// Get the tax rate using the appropriate service
// calculate the fine (I think it is just fine * tax rate but need to check with spec!)
}

Then, finally, I write the code

///
/// Calculate the tax, taking into account the fine passed.
/// Requires that the tax rate is retrievable from the TaxService
///
public double CalculateTax(double fine)
{
// Get the tax rate using the appropriate service
double taxRate = GetTaxRate();
// calculate the fine
tax = taxRate * fine;

return tax ;

}

That way, I can remember where I was if I get interrupted, the comments aren't an afterthought, they are a part of the process and, if I get hit by the Programmer bus, someone else should be able to see what I was doing. Obv. the example is small and trivial, but that's how I work and I fail to understand the 'don't need comments' brigade. What I do hate is/...

// Multiply the rate by the amount
return rate * amount;

which is simply a case of bad commenting in my book - it is not necessary to comment every step

MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

AspDotNetDev

_Maxxx_ wrote:

which is simply a case of bad commenting in my book - it is not necessary to comment every step

True. The only time I write comments like that is out of aesthetic necessity. If there was a chunk of code above that line that had its own comment, but the comment didn't apply to that line, I might make a comment like that simply to maintain visual consistency.

Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

PIEBALDconsult

[Description("Calculate the tax based on the rate from the database.")]
double CalculateTax(double fine) {
return fine * GetTaxRate();
}

Now you can find it via Reflection as well. :cool:

Lost User

:thumbsup: I came across some code only a few minutes ago which was headed by a "Reset the totals". the next three lines did as advertised. the following six did all sorts of unrelated stuff; even a comment // do unrelated stuff would make it easier to read! ** Caveat. Mine is not the best code in the world, and I am not the 'best' programmer in the world. It's easy to criticise other's code and to say how you would have done it differently; what I objected to in the original case was the assumption that their code was so beautiful it didn't need comments, and that if info was required one should look at the spec (which , in the real world, doesn't actually exist!)

MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

PIEBALDconsult

I was discussing.

Lost User

Would't you have to do

[(".esabatad eht morf etar eht no desab xat eht etaluclaC")noitpircseD]

MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

PIEBALDconsult

No, because the compiler doesn't care how you view it.

Chris Maunder

I already have[^]. I'm no longer willing to even entertain the discussion anymore. Every "good" example I've seen where commenting isn't needed is contrived. The real world is messy. Use comments.

cheers, Chris Maunder The Code Project | Co-founder Microsoft C++ MVP

_Damian S_

I initial and date all my code changes in a comment near the change - you have no idea how many times I have been able to point to that in code for a client and say "No, noone has changed this since..." which is particularly handy if something strange goes on...

Silence is golden... but duct tape is silver!! Booger Mobile - My bright green 1964 Ford Falcon - check out the blog here!! | If you feel generous - make a donation to Camp Quality!!

AspDotNetDev

So you aren't using source control? :((

Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

Lost User

_Maxxx_ wrote:

cow-worker

Someone who works the cow?

Mark_Wallace

Bollocks.

I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

Mark_Wallace

_Maxxx_ wrote:

What I do hate is/...

// Multiply the rate by the amount
return rate * amount;

which is simply a case of bad commenting in my book

I agree. It's far too much typing, and excludes reuse of the function. It should be:

// Multiply
return a * b;

At least, that's what I'm used to seeing.

I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

Lost User

That's obviously a lie. Self documenting functions are nice, but you can't do anything nontrivial that way. Then again, maybe his code only does trivial things? :)

Nagy Vilmos

The correct response to such a statement is:

"Just because your mother slept with her brother doesn't mean the rest of us will agree it's a good idea."

Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done. Drink. Get drunk. Fall over - P O'H OK, I will win to day or my name isn't Ethel Crudacre! - DD Ethel Crudacre I cannot live by bread alone. Bacon and ketchup are needed as well. - Trollslayer Have a bit more patience with newbies. Of course some of them act dumb - they're often *students*, for heaven's sake - Terry Pratchett