If the comments tell you “what” happens, then yes, they can geht outdated fast. The details of how something works can change quickly.
But comments documenting “why” something is done (a certain way) - explaining the intent - are probably valid for mich longer.
In the best case comments aren’t viewed as something that is seperate from the code, but part of it. So that if someone changes the code, the comments has to be checked aswell (if the explanation of “why” something is done actually changed).
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 10 months ago
This is something that is always stated by people who are opposed to comments, but I’ve never seen any such thing in practice. If being mislead by incorrect comments is so common, there should be a bunch of stories around about disasters caused by them - and I’ve never read a single such story.
magic_lobster_party@kbin.social 10 months ago
I’ve seen it. That’s why I’m opposed to comments unless they really bring value (like explaining the why instead of the what).
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 10 months ago
OK, so let’s hear your story about how misleading comments caused a major (or even a minor) problem.
magic_lobster_party@kbin.social 10 months ago
One example was when a method's documentation said that it would throw a certain exception. Turns out it was actually throwing a different exception (deep into the code), so no wonder why we never captured it in time.