On May 1, 2007, at 2:09 PM, Brendan Murphy wrote:

> Charles Yeomans wrote:
>> I agree that having to expend time to figure out what each line of
>> code does is a waste.  My approach, however, is to write code
>> whose intent is clear.  Adding comment that explains what the code
>> does is, in my opinion, unnecessary duplication.  Such comments
>> require one to keep comments and code in sync. I suppose this
>> means that I'm one of those people that does not comment code.
>
> Code is for compilers, comments are for humans. Code is optimized
> for the compiler to consume and produce object code. Comments and
> readability are for humans to understand what is going on.
> Therefore it is a fallacy that you can write code whose intent is
> so clear that other people can easily understand it. The reason
> you lean on this logic is because it seems clear to you and you
> assume everybody thinks like you and therefore you blind yourself
> with this logic. Code and comments serve two different purposes,
> so it is impossible for it to be an unnecessary duplication.

How it is not a fallacy to suppose that you can write comments so  
clear that other people can understand them?

Charles Yeomans





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