[TUHS] daemons are not to be exorcised

[Paul Winalski]

On 3/21/18, Arthur Krewat <krewat at kilonet.net> wrote:
>
> It was instilled in me early on by my one and only mentor that someone
> that comes along later may have no idea what my code is doing. So
> comment. Even when it might be self-explanitory, comment anyway.

In my 40-year career as a programmer, I've more than once had that
someone who comes along later be myself.

I also apply what I call the Bus Principle.  If you get hit by a bus
and killed, one of your colleagues is going to have to take over your
work.  Give them a fighting chance with code comments, and maybe even
a design document for large or complex things.

> I have noticed a lot of newer programmers these days that say
> (paraphrased): "Good code will explain itself" as a reason not to
> comment. Mostly C++ and Java programmers.
>
> I call bullshit on that. Not commenting is lazy. There's no reason NOT
> to comment.

Amen to that!  Good comments are one of the things that distinguishes
Software Engineering from mere programming.

-Paul W.