Click here to Skip to main content
15,858,479 members
Home / Discussions / Work Issues
   

Work Issues

 
SuggestionDrop Down Issue Pin
Member 1332500523-Jul-17 21:04
Member 1332500523-Jul-17 21:04 
GeneralRe: Drop Down Issue Pin
Richard Deeming24-Jul-17 8:07
mveRichard Deeming24-Jul-17 8:07 
QuestionOf Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 8:19
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 8:19 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 9:22
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 9:22 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 10:19
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 10:19 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 10:33
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 10:33 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 12:55
I.explore.code30-Jun-17 12:55 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
David A. Gray5-Jul-17 16:02
David A. Gray5-Jul-17 16:02 
IMO, old-fashioned != outdated.

As an example, last year, I had a changeset that included models, views, and controllers for two entities. A few weeks later, when I reviewed the code for another use story, I found myself scratching my head about why the view, which shouldn't have been affected by the changes to implement the last user story that touched these modules. I eventually figured out why it got in there, but I wasted a good deal of time on it that could have been put to better use working on another user story.

Histories were banned at the last two places that I worked. Instead, programmers were urged to enter dated comments adjacent to code changes. While this is nice, and I do that, you can't find them without searching the file for a date, and praying that everyone writes theirs in the same format. A history at the top of the source file is easy to maintain, and is discarded by the compiler, so has no effect on the generated machine code or byte code.

When I review source code that has a history, I can frequently confine my examination of a particular file to its history, because I can learn everything I need to know about it from the last entry or two. Working on a complex application that has many moving parts, changeset notes just aren't enough. Besides, they are not written until after the change is made and tested, when it's harder to remember why you changed each file in the set.

From time to time, I've brought some of my own code into a project, and when I've done so, the history stayed with it.

I wrote my first "real" program in 1978, and everything that I just said is the result of almost 40 years of hard won lessons, some learned when I stopped doing something that I thought was unnecessary, or had been superseded by some newer method that was allegedly better. I can't count the times that I've had to revert to my "old" way of doing things, because the "new" way was just too unproductive. Histories in source code belongs on that list.
David A. Gray
Delivering Solutions for the Ages, One Problem at a Time
Interpreting the Fundamental Principle of Tabular Reporting

GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code14-Jul-17 13:13
I.explore.code14-Jul-17 13:13 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Davie2124019-Feb-18 10:43
Davie2124019-Feb-18 10:43 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Foothill30-Jun-17 9:59
professionalFoothill30-Jun-17 9:59 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 10:30
David A. Gray30-Jun-17 10:30 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Eddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 0:21
professionalEddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 0:21 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 6:50
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 6:50 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Eddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 7:34
professionalEddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 7:34 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 9:14
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 9:14 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Eddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 10:05
professionalEddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 10:05 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 13:33
I.explore.code1-Jul-17 13:33 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Eddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 23:27
professionalEddy Vluggen1-Jul-17 23:27 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
I.explore.code2-Jul-17 1:01
I.explore.code2-Jul-17 1:01 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
maze327-Apr-18 4:52
professionalmaze327-Apr-18 4:52 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
imagiro4-Jul-17 21:51
imagiro4-Jul-17 21:51 
GeneralRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Ice Diamond21-Sep-17 22:53
professionalIce Diamond21-Sep-17 22:53 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
Richard Deeming5-Jul-17 7:57
mveRichard Deeming5-Jul-17 7:57 
AnswerRe: Of Code and Comments Pin
GuyThiebaut16-Oct-17 0:55
professionalGuyThiebaut16-Oct-17 0:55 

General General    News News    Suggestion Suggestion    Question Question    Bug Bug    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Praise Praise    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.