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Nothing seems to stir up religious debate more so than when I write a post or do a YouTube video that mentions how most of the time comments are not necessary and are actually more harmful than helpful. Comments aren't stupid, people are stupid
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Code is for how, comments are for why.
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Duncan Edwards Jones wrote: Code is for how, comments are for why.
That's actually the best argument for comments I've seen yet.
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Code is also the what.
And most times you can include the why in the way the code is named and written.
#SupportHeForShe If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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On the face of it, a reasonable argument. However, what makes absolute sense to you may not mean the same thing a couple of years down the line after x number of people who don't share your philosophy have mangled the code. In my mind the addition of some basic commentary takes seconds. Why do people make such a fuss over adding a simple comment that may help decipher what you have created?
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Kent Sharkey wrote: Comments aren't stupid, people are stupid
Summary of everything, including my "comment" on your "comment". 
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I recall a time I tried to implement some feature with Technique X, but it didn't work, so I used Technique Y.
Some time later I was looking at the code and wondered why I hadn't simply used Technique X. I tried it again with the same disastrous result.
That time, when I reinstituted Technique Y, I added a comment to the effect of "do not even think about using Technique X here; it just won't work!"
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Oh, yes. These types of things happen far too often in 'real' code bases. And I don't think there's any way you could 'rename your variables' to get around it. People just need to let people write comments. Without comment.
TTFN - Kent
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Kent Sharkey wrote: People just need to let people write comments. Without comment.
It is easy:
// No comment
Geek code v 3.12
GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- r++>+++ y+++*
Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
I use 1TBS
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I didn't really read the whole article yet. But already the first refactoring suggestion is already completely wrong.
The author suggests renaming path to validatedFullPath but if you have to check if the value is null, then it is NOT validated and therefore the name is wrong.
To be fair, the code itself isn't great in that regard either, as the comment itself says that the value inside the string should already be a valid value and then still checks for null. It would have been easier to understand to if they'd throw an ArgumentNullException when checking the value for null, as it clearly shouldn't be null it the first place. I, however, don't know how this method is used, and therefore can't really tell if that's a valid assumption. Of course, refactoring it this way would change the behaviour of the code ...
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Kent Sharkey wrote: Comments aren't stupid, people are stupid
Comments don't kill people. People with comments kill people 
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Also a very good example of how not to apply refactoring.
He actually makes the code more complex and less efficient just to avoid comments. Not a great lesson.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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Yes, because it's soooo much easier to find a "pertinent word" (which might not be so informative as the coder thinks) that's hidden in one of the 83,000 25-character, camel-case identifiers than it is to spot a highlighted comment.
Typing five to ten words is not hard, guys!
Just do it!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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As long as it's the why, not the what or how.
#SupportHeForShe If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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It can certainly be the "what you need to do before using this" or the "how to use it", just not the "what it is" or "how it works".
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Sure, absolutely, that's valid. I always cringe when I see:
int i;
i = 5; 
#SupportHeForShe If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Not half.
If I had a penny for every time I've seen things like:
init;
I'd have a lot of pennies.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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yep, that too. grr...
#SupportHeForShe If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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Have you ever used JavaDoc (for Java, obviously) or Doxygen (for C*)?
Anyone who has, and has therefore seen what an incredibly valuable resource they are, would never suggest that commenting is stupid.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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True. But that's not the sort of comments that are being complained about.
#SupportHeForShe If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept 1 of 2 basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe or we are not alone. Either way, the implications are staggering!-Wernher von Braun
Only 2 things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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I think I'll just start spamming* "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater", every time I see a discussion about it.
* "Spamming" in the gaming sense, not the e-mail one
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I always comment like this:
[100K lines of code here]
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Ah!
Now I understand what "functional programming" is!
... Because that'd sure work!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I will not be baited...I will not be baited...
cheers
Chris Maunder
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We are happy to announce the release of ReSharper C++ — a new product specifically targeted at modern C++ developers. Now the ++ folk can enjoy the magic tool
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