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Posted to dev@subversion.apache.org by Greg Stein <gs...@gmail.com> on 2008/10/29 12:04:53 UTC
Re: Questions in/on the code [was: svn commit: r33900 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_wc]
On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 4:48 AM, Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 11:06 -0700, Greg Stein wrote:
>> Why is it horrible? How are you tracking that you need to research
>> these questions? Or maybe somebody else knows the answers.
>
> It's horrible to ask questions about the code by inserting them into the
> code
>
> 1. because it's a poor channel for discussion, it implies I have no
> more effective way to talk to colleagues, and useful changes to the code
In short: you don't. And that is the problem that questions like that address.
It's 5am here, so I'm not going to go on at length. But basically,
your alternatives in the rest of this email are all very less
effective than leaving those questions in there for others to see, be
wary of, to answer, or to remove because *they* know the answer is "no
problem".
Removing the questions now implies that we have unknown potential
problems. Areas that you worked on but are NOT SURE that you got
right, but there is no documentation for that fact. Other than in your
head. And that is an awful state for us to be in.
You CANNOT depend upon code reviews. Period. That isn't the answer to
resolving your questions.
Cheers,
-g
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Re: Questions in/on the code [was: svn commit: r33900 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_wc]
Posted by Justin Erenkrantz <ju...@erenkrantz.com>.
On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 9:34 AM, Greg Stein <gs...@gmail.com> wrote:
> If I'm reading code, then I *want* those questions in there. It tells
> me to be wary. To find out more. That what I'm looking at my be
> suspect. It is INFORMATIVE.
At the risk of sounding like a broken AOL bot, ditto again. =)
It's a "here be dragons" caution light - it probably also indicates
that whomever wrote the code initially didn't do a very good job of
documenting/commenting the code in question. But, at least leaving a
breadcrumb comment would do just a smidge to resolving this. --
justin
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Re: Questions in/on the code [was: svn commit: r33900 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_wc]
Posted by Greg Stein <gs...@gmail.com>.
On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 5:10 AM, Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 2008-10-29 at 05:04 -0700, Greg Stein wrote:
>> On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 4:48 AM, Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
>> > On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 11:06 -0700, Greg Stein wrote:
>> >> Why is it horrible? How are you tracking that you need to research
>> >> these questions? Or maybe somebody else knows the answers.
>> >
>> > It's horrible to ask questions about the code by inserting them into the
>> > code
>> >
>> > 1. because it's a poor channel for discussion, it implies I have no
>> > more effective way to talk to colleagues, and useful changes to the code
>>
>> In short: you don't. And that is the problem that questions like that address.
>>
>> It's 5am here, so I'm not going to go on at length. But basically,
>> your alternatives in the rest of this email are all very less
>> effective than leaving those questions in there for others to see, be
>> wary of, to answer, or to remove because *they* know the answer is "no
>> problem".
>>
>> Removing the questions now implies that we have unknown potential
>> problems. Areas that you worked on but are NOT SURE that you got
>> right, but there is no documentation for that fact. Other than in your
>> head. And that is an awful state for us to be in.
>>
>> You CANNOT depend upon code reviews. Period. That isn't the answer to
>> resolving your questions.
>
> OK, thanks for the advice. I'm asking on-list now.
Umm... that is NOT what I was suggesting. Keep the questions in the
code. Go ahead and followup on list, but the mailing list might not
ever generate an answer, or the thread could peter out, or you might
not ever get a chance to flow the results back into the code. In all
those cases, it is best to leave the question there in the code.
If I'm reading code, then I *want* those questions in there. It tells
me to be wary. To find out more. That what I'm looking at my be
suspect. It is INFORMATIVE.
Absence of that question? Potentially dangerous. Certainly not informative.
If you have 10 questions, then by all means... put them in the code!
But please... do not simply omit them, and consider "asking on-list"
is better :-(
Cheers,
-g
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Re: Questions in/on the code [was: svn commit: r33900 -
trunk/subversion/libsvn_wc]
Posted by Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com>.
On Wed, 2008-10-29 at 05:04 -0700, Greg Stein wrote:
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 4:48 AM, Julian Foad <ju...@btopenworld.com> wrote:
> > On Tue, 2008-10-28 at 11:06 -0700, Greg Stein wrote:
> >> Why is it horrible? How are you tracking that you need to research
> >> these questions? Or maybe somebody else knows the answers.
> >
> > It's horrible to ask questions about the code by inserting them into the
> > code
> >
> > 1. because it's a poor channel for discussion, it implies I have no
> > more effective way to talk to colleagues, and useful changes to the code
>
> In short: you don't. And that is the problem that questions like that address.
>
> It's 5am here, so I'm not going to go on at length. But basically,
> your alternatives in the rest of this email are all very less
> effective than leaving those questions in there for others to see, be
> wary of, to answer, or to remove because *they* know the answer is "no
> problem".
>
> Removing the questions now implies that we have unknown potential
> problems. Areas that you worked on but are NOT SURE that you got
> right, but there is no documentation for that fact. Other than in your
> head. And that is an awful state for us to be in.
>
> You CANNOT depend upon code reviews. Period. That isn't the answer to
> resolving your questions.
OK, thanks for the advice. I'm asking on-list now.
- Julian
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