Hello, 2007/5/30, Eric Auer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > Hi! > > "Why isn't good documentation the norm? Programmers aren't > rewarded for it." > > I agree on the latter - I usually TAKE time to have reasonable > comments in my code because it is open source (so others can > reuse it or help improving it) or because I simply insist on > having maintainable code. It hardly ever happens that you GET > significant time on your schedule for maintainability or deep > maintenance work like audits. Customers only PAY for features > and few IT people think about the point that code does and > will change, so you better make it maintainable from the start. > Good luck with convincing your colleagues ;-).
I am afraid I disagree, Eric. We are just having badly or poorly commented code BECAUSE we are creating Open Source. I believe it is not as much the case for SMALL firms, but as for software written for big firms, they usually not only count, but also force you to write complete documentation (not only code comments), functional and technical, some others also test cases, and many many manuals for it. Some even pay for projects which are purely analytical/functional, and that only produce documents, not code. And they are imposing money pennalizations not only because of bugs, but also because of documents not in time, etc. For OpenSource there's no such pressure. As you are not paid, you don't have to write documentation, so you just write features. Of course, not only for the maintainability, but also to increase the inter-cooperation, documentation is vital, but usually neglected. Only big open source projects as Linux can expect to have some quality documentation. As for FreeDOS, we have Pat Vilani's original book. Unfortunately it has evolved quite a bit from there. Maybe one day we get the critical mass as to afford more detailed documentation. Aitor ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by DB2 Express Download DB2 Express C - the FREE version of DB2 express and take control of your XML. No limits. Just data. Click to get it now. http://sourceforge.net/powerbar/db2/ _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
