Article: Why Code Readability Matters

**SilverWarior** · 01-06-2013, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Darkhog

I also do lots of commenting. Even most insignificant and obvious line should be IMO commented, because after few months you won't know what it does.

Commenting is verry important but I keep forgetting to coment my code myself

**pitfiend** · 02-06-2013, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by SilverWarior

Commenting is verry important but I keep forgetting to coment my code myself

Don't feel like an alien, it happens to many programmers, myself included. But well writen code is a good documentation in itself if you name your functions/procedures and types/const/variables/classes/properties with meaning names.

**Darkhog** · 02-06-2013, 03:33 PM

Originally Posted by pitfiend

Don't feel like an alien, it happens to many programmers, myself included.

It happens to me too. I usually put comments after I'm certain code is doing what is supposed to do.

Originally Posted by pitfiend

But well writen code is a good documentation in itself if you name your functions/procedures and types/const/variables/classes/properties with meaning names.

Yeah, about that... I'm not big fan of "self documenting code". I had many times read code that was supposed to be "self documenting one" but wasn't easy to grasp (though easier than if variables were called "Variable1","Variable2", etc. and functions "Function1","Function2",...). And it was both Pascal and other language code (which includes so easy, at least for me, languages like C# or Java).

In my opinion nothing will help more than properly documented code. Even comments like "this function is supposed to do..." before function body are good.

**Carver413** · 02-06-2013, 06:55 PM

I hate comments in the code,it just makes it harder to visualize the actual code. I really hate people who indent 8 char at a time, 2 is enough.

**SilverWarior** · 02-06-2013, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Carver413

I hate comments in the code,it just makes it harder to visualize the actual code. I really hate people who indent 8 char at a time, 2 is enough.

I don't hate coments in the code unles they span through several lines. Those can realy make hadred to visualize the code.
The best thing to help bisualize the code are region definitions and code folding that is of course if they are used properly. It is to bad they are somwheat broken in Delphi. If you make any syntactical error all the code that is below that point gets unfolded automaticaly. This unfortunately makes code foldin almost uselsess in Delphi.
I myself use 4 char indents mosty 2 in type declarations only. The main reason for this is old practice from Delphi 6. Since Delphi 6 didn't support automaticly adding "end;" after every "begin" I dah to rite all those ends by myself. And since end is 4 characters long I kept 4 char indets as it alowed me to simply pres UP arrow key to get in place for writing the code inside the method I just started to write.

**Carver413** · 02-06-2013, 11:23 PM

I hate code folders as well. to me they are simply a bandaid to an editor design that should have went away long ago. with the Explorer I have an editor design that allows me to qucikly move to where I want to work and see only what I am working on.