> > You: Don't use comments, use tests. > > Cutter, me: Comments can help those who come to the source code later > > in ways that tests may not. > > You: That's why we pair program. > > Michael: What if all the developers who worked on the project are long > > gone? > > You: Read the tests. > > That's misrepresenting the thread. This is more accurate: > > Me: Don't use comments, use tests. > Cutter: Noobs can't read tests > Me: That's why we pair program. > Michael: What do *you* do if all the developers who worked on the project > are long gone? > You: Read the tests. (implication; I'm not a noob).
No, I think that's less representative than what I wrote: "Cutter, me: Comments can help those who come to the source code later in ways that tests may not." Note the "me" there. Cutter mentioned "noobs", I mentioned ways that comments provide information that tests don't. Again, I specified two cases where tests and pair programming wouldn't solve problems I had, and comments could. These are actual cases from my own personal experience in the last couple of weeks. If I accepted your answers at face value, they would contradict my personal experience from these two cases. Look, I think that TDD is great. And I think that pair programming is great, although it's not an option for many work environments. Everybody should do these things if they can, and they will solve more problems than comments would. But you have said, basically, that there is NO POSSIBLE CASE where comments can solve a problem that TDD and pair programming can't, and I think that's going to contradict many people's experiences. That's a pretty absolutist position. Hell, I suspect that if I asked Kent Beck himself, he'd say there are still some cases where comments provide value that TDD doesn't. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ http://training.figleaf.com/ Fig Leaf Software is a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB) on GSA Schedule, and provides the highest caliber vendor-authorized instruction at our training centers, online, or onsite. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/message.cfm/messageid:350181 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-talk/unsubscribe.cfm
