On Dec 4, 2012, at 7:45 PM, Chris Cunningham <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 4, 2012 at 6:30 AM, Henrik Sperre Johansen > <[email protected]> wrote: > On 04.12.2012 12:49, Stéphane Ducasse wrote: > Comments are ***REEEAALLLLY*** important because they help a guy reading the > code to say yes you are smart and you got it right > I will explain you why. > > Even writing comment in test is cool. > > Stef > I would go so far as to say comments in tests are *especially* important. > It's sometimes hard to tell whether a failure is due to a faulty test, or an > actual bug, when you have no idea (even when looking at the code) what case > the test was actually written to cover. > With a comment of what the test was intended to do, you have a better feel > for how to handle it. > True, to a point. As long as later coders that alter the > method/class/package either adhear to the original comments, or update the > comments when they change the behaviour/intent of the code, or at the very > least, delete the comment when they make significant changes that would > invalidate the comment, this is true. If, on the other hand, the comments > are left as is while potentially drastic changes are made, then the comments > become seriously misleading. > > Not to say comments are bad - but we must all work to make sure the comments > that exist stay relevant. > And of course it is important to actually change comments when someone finds a problem. "How can you change the world if you can't even change a typo in a comment?" Marcus
