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Re: The worth of comments

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From Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz>
Newsgroups comp.lang.python
Subject Re: The worth of comments
Date Sun, 29 May 2011 12:47:52 +1200
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Irmen de Jong wrote:

> I don't see how that is opposed to what Grant was saying. It's that these 'contracts'
> tend to change and that people forget or are too lazy to update the comments to reflect
> those changes.

However, I can't see that deleting the comment documenting the
contract can be the right response to the situation.

If the contract comment doesn't match what code does, then
there are two possibilities -- the comment is wrong, or the
code is wrong. The appropriate response is to find out which
one is wrong and fix it.

If you simply delete the comment, then you're left with no
redundancy to catch the fact that something is wrong.

-- 
Greg

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The worth of comments Richard Parker <r.richardparker@comcast.net> - 2011-05-26 11:50 -0700
  Re: The worth of comments Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-27 11:42 +1000
    Re: The worth of comments Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2011-05-27 13:54 +0000
      Re: The worth of comments Irmen de Jong <irmen@-NOSPAM-xs4all.nl> - 2011-05-27 19:05 +0200
        Re: The worth of comments Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2011-05-27 17:53 +0000
          Re: The worth of comments Irmen de Jong <irmen.NOSPAM@xs4all.nl> - 2011-05-28 15:09 +0200
            Re: The worth of comments python@bdurham.com - 2011-05-28 09:34 -0400
          Re: The worth of comments Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-05-28 09:36 -0400
            Re: The worth of comments Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-29 00:02 +1000
            Re: The worth of comments Irmen de Jong <irmen.NOSPAM@xs4all.nl> - 2011-05-28 16:05 +0200
              Re: The worth of comments Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2011-05-29 12:47 +1200
                Re: The worth of comments Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2011-05-29 11:41 +1000
                Re: The worth of comments Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2011-05-29 23:05 +1200
                Re: The worth of comments Grant Edwards <invalid@invalid.invalid> - 2011-05-29 14:43 +0000
                Re: The worth of comments Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-05-29 11:39 -0400
                Re: The worth of comments Irmen de Jong <irmen.NOSPAM@xs4all.nl> - 2011-05-29 03:49 +0200
                Re: The worth of comments Alister Ware <alister.ware@ntlworld.com> - 2011-05-29 17:26 +0000
            Re: The worth of comments Neil Cerutti <neilc@norwich.edu> - 2011-05-31 14:47 +0000
  Re: The worth of comments Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-05-26 22:08 -0400
    Re: The worth of comments Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2011-05-27 15:13 +1000
      Re: The worth of comments Roy Smith <roy@panix.com> - 2011-05-27 09:25 -0400
    Re: The worth of comments Tim Roberts <timr@probo.com> - 2011-05-27 00:02 -0700
      Re: The worth of comments "D'Arcy J.M. Cain" <darcy@druid.net> - 2011-05-27 09:29 -0400
    RE: The worth of comments "Prasad, Ramit" <ramit.prasad@jpmchase.com> - 2011-05-27 14:17 -0400

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