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0 pointscapableweb5y ago0 comments

> By that logic, a non-insignificant amount of (good) comments in code could be removed and people asked to "git blame the code and check out the commit that made it for the documentation". Of course this could be done, but it sounds ridiculous even typing it out.

Yes, exactly. You want to understand how a codebase changed and evolved over time? Git is your friend. If you want the facts of the code today? The source code is your friend. That's why the way Linux and Gits Git repository method of storing history makes sense. See also https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26348965

Try navigating the Git codebase with a git-blame sidebar (probably VS Code has that somewhere) so you can see the history of the source files. If you wonder why something is what it is, you can checkout the commit that last modified it. Or go even further backwards and figure out in the context it was first added. If you truly want to understand a change, a git repository with well written git messages is a pleasure to understand and dig into.

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jorl175y ago

> Yes, exactly. You want to understand how a codebase changed and evolved over time? Git is your friend. If you want the facts of the code today? The source code is your friend.

100% agree. Though I don't mind if comments also leave historical information about the code. Can't be too much -- there is a delicate balance.

Do note, however, that you said it yourself: If you want the facts of the code today, go to the source code. In my opinion, the "facts of the code of git" are that functions X,Y,Z are "banned", but the code does not tell me why, or what to use instead. It just bans them. I would expect to see something in the code, not (just) in a git commit. It's also not that I can't google these functions (a couple of minutes will answer these questions), or that I should be experienced enough to know why they're evil, it's that it's IMO a reasonable, developer-friendly and good thing to do.

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0 pointscapableweb5y ago0 comments

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jorl175y ago

> Yes, exactly. You want to understand how a codebase changed and evolved over time? Git is your friend. If you want the facts of the code today? The source code is your friend.

100% agree. Though I don't mind if comments also leave historical information about the code. Can't be too much -- there is a delicate balance.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse