Myths About Code Comments

theodp writes "Jason Baker gives his take on the biggest misconceptions about code comments: 1) Comments are free ('When you update the code that the comment references, you usually have to update the comment as well'). 2) Comments make code more readable ('by far the most pervasive myth that I've encountered'). 3) You should comment every function, method, class, and module ('documenting something that needs no documentation is universally a bad idea'). 4) Code must always be 'self documenting' ('would you rather use a one-liner that requires a 3-line comment, or a 10-liner that requires no comments?')."

Comments

Re:Over documentation is good

[fdrebin]

Remember what is crystal clear to you may not be to the guy coming in to clean your mess up in a few years. ( or even yourself as you have learned more and advanced your skills, and have to go back, often with a 'wtf was i doing'.. )

I worked on the same system for 15 years. More than once I saw some code and said "what idiot wrote this!?" ... only to realize it was me, 5 years ago. Yes, that did indeed lead to me becoming a) much less prone to "clever tricks" and b) much much better at explaining what (WHY) I was doing whatever it was.

Re:Less verbose is more writeable

[Ragzouken]

Your example misses the point precisely because it's just as clear in one line than in eight. You obviously shouldn't break up everything into as many lines as possible.