Psuedo Code
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How many of you hash out the logic of what you are about to write in a comment, then code it? Realistically I haven't done this in a while, but just did so I could go over it in writing before coding it all. It is something I did when I was a beginner much more often. How many of you guys find yourself doing this still?
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
After 40 years of coding, I have learned my lesson about 20 years ago and I STILL COMMENT MY CODE!!!! Anyone who doesnt misses a great opportunity of advertising themselves and how well they code AND DOCUMENT! It is a small world and I have run into techs that have seen my code and was hired albeit only once or twice. As a consultant you have to put our name on as many 'finished' works as possible.
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After 40 years of coding, I have learned my lesson about 20 years ago and I STILL COMMENT MY CODE!!!! Anyone who doesnt misses a great opportunity of advertising themselves and how well they code AND DOCUMENT! It is a small world and I have run into techs that have seen my code and was hired albeit only once or twice. As a consultant you have to put our name on as many 'finished' works as possible.
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That's interesting, I never looked at it that way.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
Other than a specification document, that's the one place where you can advertise freely! Most OOP routines never change very much anyway so comments can have a longer shelf life if written generally. Also managers who do code reviews have a higher regard for the maintainability aspect of the code. Usually it distinguishes my skills(in a way) above the employees who never comment at all. It is difficult to express the comments in a way that other coders would understand but hey there's gotta be something difficult/challenging about what we do! PS. After a while you get tunnel-vision and develop CRS syndrome (Cant remember shit) so the comments come in handy.
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How many of you hash out the logic of what you are about to write in a comment, then code it? Realistically I haven't done this in a while, but just did so I could go over it in writing before coding it all. It is something I did when I was a beginner much more often. How many of you guys find yourself doing this still?
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
wizardzz wrote:
How many of you hash out the logic of what you are about to write in a comment, then code it?
I've been doing this for over 25 years now, and still find it helpful (especially with complicated logic). Then, when I add in the code I push my pseudocode out as line or block comments. As mentioned in other responses, it's usually for my own (in)sanity when I look at the code 6 months later. Curiously, I find that my pseudocode tends to resemble whatever language I spent the most time in at my previous job (except for those two places that I did COBOL, but one of them was equally split with 370 assembler).
Jack Myers