From: Jim Menard <jimm@...>
Date: 2005-04-27T22:31:21+09:00
Subject: Re: [OT] Comments Are More Important Than Code

Tim Hunter wrote:
> Even if this is not directly about Ruby, both Jeff Raskin and the 
> subject have come up before on this n.g. so I believe it's not 
> altogether off-topic...
> 
> Comments Are More Important Than Code
> 
> http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=290

Yes, but...

A few days ago, I noticed that a method in the Squeak (Smalltalk) core 
collection classes did one thing, while its comment said another. That method 
has probably been around for thirty years or so; the Smalltalk collection 
classes have a long history.

Which is correct? The code, because the behavior takes precedence, or the 
comment, because it expresses the intention?

I don't know the answer; nobody on the Squeak mailing list has yet responded 
to my query about whether the code should be changed or the comment.

Jim
-- 
Jim Menard, jimm@io.com, http://www.io.com/~jimm
"Indeed, an upsettingly large part of academia right now seems to be
working on bringing Java into the 1980s... sigh." -- Avi Bryant