On Wed, Mar 21, 2018 at 2:04 PM, Dan Cross <crossd@gmail.com> wrote:

Critical to that, however, is the adjective "good", as in "good comments." Writing comments can be incredibly useful, but writing *good* comments is a learned skill that requires judgement and taste.

​....​

1. A comment should never simply parrot the code:  i++;  // Increment i.
2. A comment should sometimes explain *what* the code is doing.
3. A comment should always explain *why* the code is doing what it's doing.

i.e. there is a difference between: ​       i++;  // Increment i 
v.s. the line: ​                      ptr->field++;  // ensure reference count stays sane 

The former fails your first test, the second follows 2 & 3 as a note to my future self that this is where I am doing the this piece of support work (reference count maintenance). 


Clem