Are many programmers mentally ill?
Author
I''ve noticed a lot of programmers (myself included) comment code using statements such as
// now we load the data into the surface
or
// calculate our position in the file
Shouldn''t it be:
// now I load the data into the surface
// calculate my position in the file
Who is the person/people that we speak to in these comments? Yea, in a commercial project, people might actually read your code, but this trend also applies to code that people never expect anyone but themselves to read.
So do those of us that do this have some deep psychological problems?
I think it''s a personification of the computer, which is a defense mechanism to ward mental illness.
Programmers only comment to explain to other programmers, not to themselves.
I''ve noticed most programmers who code alone can''t stand comments in their code.
I''ve noticed most programmers who code alone can''t stand comments in their code.
lol! Yeah, I do this constantly. I''m not sure if I''m speaking from my and other coders point of view, my and users point of view, or my and the computer''s point of view. We''ve been good my precious, here''s a nice new mouse pads fors us. Yes, my precious. Anyway, can''t wait for LOTR''s movie. Now I''m tending toward colder no point of view at all.
// load the data into the surface
// calculate position in the file
// load the data into the surface
// calculate position in the file
Author
quote:Original post by Caffeine
Programmers only comment to explain to other programmers, not to themselves.
I''ve noticed most programmers who code alone can''t stand comments in their code.
I think those people simply haven''t yet had the joy of having to come back to code they wrote half a year ago and have no clue what is going on. Now I put huge time and effort into properly documenting code that another human being will likely never read. So what about those of us lone coders that still comment? Are we simply developing a good habit for when actually getting a programming job, or are we simply whacked out?
Oh, and I code for myself as much as for other''s. When you have to render player 2 before player 1 for some nuince of prediction code, that little comment from 3 months ago comes in handy.
The code speaks the truth, the comments are just someones perception of the code.
Force people to learn to read code and forget the comments!
muahhahaha
Force people to learn to read code and forget the comments!
muahhahaha
I think both forms are a sign of mental illness actually. Is it the programmer her/himself who is performing the action, or is it the program?
I generally use the third person in my comments, for example:
# this code loads the data into the surface
or
# calculates the current position in the file.
Only use first person when making a note to myself:
# this is an awful hack, I should take another look at this after I get a full night of sleep.
(Also use this as a safety check before checking my code into version control. If I do a search on the module for "hack" or " I ", and get something back, I know that it''s not ready to be checked in.)
I''m actually kind of curious now - is it more common for people to use first person (either single or plural) or third person in their comments? In my experience, I tend to see either third person or no comments at all (unfortunately).
-pwd
I generally use the third person in my comments, for example:
# this code loads the data into the surface
or
# calculates the current position in the file.
Only use first person when making a note to myself:
# this is an awful hack, I should take another look at this after I get a full night of sleep.
(Also use this as a safety check before checking my code into version control. If I do a search on the module for "hack" or " I ", and get something back, I know that it''s not ready to be checked in.)
I''m actually kind of curious now - is it more common for people to use first person (either single or plural) or third person in their comments? In my experience, I tend to see either third person or no comments at all (unfortunately).
-pwd
As for real mental issues.. spending hours alone thinking to yourself doesn''t help you become less introverted... =)
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