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Survey Results

Do you comment your code?

Survey period: 5 May 2014 to 12 May 2014

A repeat of our survey from 4 years ago. Let's see how things have changed.

OptionVotes% 
I add comment headers for all public classes, objects and methods, events, fields etc56740.04
I add comment headers for all non-public classes, objects and methods, as well as non-obvious logic inside these37226.27
I provide comments at the top of files29921.12
I comment any code that may be obscure (the "what") to a reader88162.22
I comment any code where the purpose (the "why") may be obscure93966.31
I comment on expected inputs, outputs and other results27719.56
I comment on exceptions, side effects or error codes31222.03
I comment on structures (loop endings, function endings etc)16911.94
I comment as a last resort when I can't make my code any clearer36325.64
I do not comment code.896.29
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%



 
GeneralRe: Captain obvious comments Pin
thatraja5-May-14 5:58
professionalthatraja5-May-14 5:58 
GeneralRe: Captain obvious comments Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic5-May-14 8:35
Nemanja Trifunovic5-May-14 8:35 
GeneralRe: Captain obvious comments Pin
Dennis_E6-May-14 21:58
professionalDennis_E6-May-14 21:58 
GeneralRe: Captain obvious comments Pin
aboubkr907-May-14 17:41
professionalaboubkr907-May-14 17:41 
GeneralGive credit where due Pin
Member 90635564-May-14 23:52
Member 90635564-May-14 23:52 
General"Sometimes".... Pin
imagiro4-May-14 22:29
imagiro4-May-14 22:29 
GeneralDepends on who will use my code Pin
zaxthealien4-May-14 21:02
zaxthealien4-May-14 21:02 
GeneralLast resort... Pin
Sander Rossel4-May-14 21:02
professionalSander Rossel4-May-14 21:02 
More often than not have I seen code that is unclear, outdated or just wrong.
It seems people are unable to write correct and consise comments and update it when needed.
People seem to forget that a comment is just a line of code that needs to be maintained, just like the rest of your code.

Some examples of what I've seen:
C#
// A helper variable.
int helper;

// Save the product.
customer.Save(); // {No! We're not saving the product!}

// {Insert about 50 lines of comments here.}
// {Some code here. I deleted the 50 lines of comments when I changed the code and made a lot of the comments obsolete.}

// The following function calculates the {that's it, appearently the programmer got distracted and never finished.}
// {Some code here.}

// Variable i is the index of a row in a grid.
int i; // {I renamed it to rowIndex and removed the comment.}

int i = 42;
int j = 42;
// Add the integers;
int x = i + j;
With so much noise I'd rather not see any comments at all. You'll probably still be able to figure out what code does anyway, it just might take a little longer.
Writing comments isn't fun. Most programmers I know take time to write comments, but don't take time to do it well. No one take time to update comments when they update code.
To me it's a last resort. When I write a bit of code that I really can't make any clearer than what it is I might write a comment. If a comment could make it any clearer that is.
It's an OO world.
C#
public class SanderRossel : Lazy<Person>
{
   public void DoWork()
   {
      throw new NotSupportedException();
   }
}

GeneralClasses and methods when necessary, everything else shouldn't need any comments. Pin
AlexCode4-May-14 20:53
professionalAlexCode4-May-14 20:53 
Generaladd one more option Pin
Marla Sukesh4-May-14 20:42
professional Marla Sukesh4-May-14 20:42 
GeneralI try... Pin
Jim Meadors4-May-14 19:16
Jim Meadors4-May-14 19:16 
GeneralRe: I try... and regret not succeeding Pin
Erik Rude5-May-14 22:41
Erik Rude5-May-14 22:41 
General"Why" is really important than "What"...! Pin
koolprasad20034-May-14 19:04
professionalkoolprasad20034-May-14 19:04 
GeneralRe: "Why" is really important than "What"...! Pin
Thanks78724-May-14 19:22
professionalThanks78724-May-14 19:22 
GeneralRe: "Why" is really important than "What"...! Pin
Maarten Kools4-May-14 23:07
professionalMaarten Kools4-May-14 23:07 
GeneralRe: "Why" is really important than "What"...! Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic5-May-14 2:28
Nemanja Trifunovic5-May-14 2:28 

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