The Whiteboard

« first day (1775 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (3192 days later) »

user55340

10:07 PM

If one doesn't like the P.SE scope / existence, then one should endeavor to claim stack overflow is on topic for all things we have in our scope.

Robert Harvey

The more I look at this code to try and understand it, the more I realize how much some well-placed, brief comments describing the purpose and use of each class, interface and method would have really helped a lot.

user55340

@RobertHarvey but comments are a code smell!

Robert Harvey

I would suggest to those folks who dismiss comments because "code should be self-describing" don't really understand the code themselves. Otherwise, they'd be capable of writing a very brief explanation.

user55340

Comments help when they help you get into the mind of the other coder faster.

user55340

90% of maintaining code is mind reading. Sometimes that is your own.

Ixrec

10:12 PM

my personal experience is that almost all comments can be trivially turned into self-describing code, but I do work primarily on frontend app-specific Javascript code

ratchet freak

@RobertHarvey that's not comments that's documentation

Ixrec

if I was writing foundational libraries for performance-driven C++ tasks I'd probably be writing big comment blocks explaining my high-level design rationale for each class

even if individual methods are self-explanatory

ratchet freak

@Ixrec package level documentation

Ixrec

yep

oh well, at least I tried

gnat

@Ixrec key word is almost. I tend to believe that I can write code that's totally self-explanatory and comment-free but time it will take me to get there would suffice to get me fired for being too slow. Probably twice. "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."

Ixrec

10:15 PM

yeah, I'm not arguing for exactly zero comments

most of the comments I do write boil down to "we need this weird-looking bit to workaround X"

ratchet freak

I find that a valid reason for comment

I tend to also use it as "using algorithm X" with a wiki link if appropriate

Ixrec

though one time I did write a function whose name was "workaroundForTicket1234"

so that one didn't need a comment

ratchet freak

my s key is overactive today

user55340

I'd have that one be part of the commit message and trust people have annotations turned on for git or svn

Ixrec

yeah, usually it's in the commit message too

ratchet freak

10:19 PM

@MichaelT until a numbskull clears the history or just grabs a snapshot

Robert Harvey

To be fair, your question is a bit "pointed," which is to say that you seem to have already answered it yourself in the body of the question. "Diamonds are bad, Joints are good, amirite?" You didn't leave much room for discussion, and at the end of the day, your question is flame-bait, and this isn't a discussion forum anyway. Consider this counterpoint: I assert that multiple-inheritance is left out of some languages like Java, not because of the diamond problem specifically, but because MI is simply a poor tradeoff; its complexity cost is greater than the benefits it provides. — Robert Harvey 1 min ago

MetaFight

@Ixrec you have the patience of a saint.

Robert Harvey

10:35 PM

A Task<T> is essentially a promise, correct?

ratchet freak

that if you await it that you get a T or it errors out?

Ixrec

@MetaFight the fact that I showed up late to the original train wreck probably had something to do with it

after a direct interaction with him I'm now fairly convinced he does not want to be helped

Robert Harvey

Ah, not a promise. A promise is a means to implement continuations.

Task someTask = RunMethodAsync();
someTask.ContinueWith( t =>
{
   // This runs after the task completes, similar to how promise() would work
});

Or simply await, apparently.

Jimmy Hoffa

my new job = the win

Robert Harvey

10:51 PM

Cool beans.

Jimmy Hoffa

They have me fixing an issue with something old and mention they were thinking about having me work on a new web site they need made next; I tell my boss from what I know of it I'd really like to make sure and be able to be the one to work on that project, and he and his boss both say "absolutely, if you want to work on a project we'll definitely get it to you" - closed allocation eat your heart out.

soon I'll actually get to put my money where my mouth's at on picking a client side UI; I'm still strongly intending to stick with Knockout

Ixrec

@gnat He actually did get downvotes on other SE sites today, so that last comment wasn't totally off-base (though he worded it very poorly)

I'm not sure when the train wreck started so I can't tell if the times of the downvotes checked out

gnat

11:21 PM

@Ixrec the question was posted 5 hours ago from now. To make sure, I checked rep tabs at 6 or 7 of their linked accounts. I found the only downvote that seemed to happen after that question, at this SO answer

Ixrec

ah, it was only 5 hours, never mind then

hopefully those meta comments don't drag out any longer

admittedly it is a bizarre coincidence he got those downvotes today shortly before posting that ranty question here

gnat

11:36 PM

@Ixrec oh they had a bad day then. Bunch of downvotes, followed by a poorly received question. I had 2 or 3 questions like that, it was... painful

at least for the first time

Ixrec

I'm still at the stage where receiving a downvote is extremely rare

so it'd probably be painful for me if something like that ever did happen

gnat

@Ixrec ask more questions, meet more downvotes. People hesitate to DV answers

Ixrec

though I could probably manage not to accuse you guys of "personal attacks"

@gnat that's the thing: I never have any questions!

whatsisname

post a question asking if WPF is dead or not

Ixrec

I don't know if that means I'm too competent or if all my problems are caused by internal proprietary junk (probably the latter)

gnat

11:39 PM

@Ixrec go meta, ask questions about SE sites over there. MSO or MSE if you want a really tough ride

Ixrec

or I could just not ask questions

user55340

Full screen capture of that diamond question, with comments in history. Its big.

gnat

@Ixrec on non-meta, it is quite likely that you find your questions already asked and answered. That's my case, I also don't ask at main sites. It even happens half of the time that question I prepare for meta, is already asked and answered over there

Ixrec

on meta it's more a case of everything has already been suggested and silently pocket veto'd, which is significantly more depressing

gnat

@Ixrec on meta (tough meta, not vegetarian one at Programmers), it's more a case that you get 5-10 downvotes in first 10 minutes. Unless you sit there, stick to screen and keyboard and address all the comments in a matter of seconds (this doesn't fully protect from DV piling, but better than absence)

Ixrec

11:47 PM

not that meta votes matter

gnat

@Ixrec not that any votes matter. But still, "downvotes are taken so damn personal..." - takes quite a while to get rid of that... personal take

Ixrec

I mean, on main sites (and arguably site metas) the votes at least indicate that someone thought your content is decent, while on meta meta the only thing that really matters is whether an SE employee posts and official response

gnat

@Ixrec not quite. Bunch of things don't need employee response. Explanations of features, tags burnination and synonyms, community handles stuff like that. It's often that even moderator involvement isn't needed

...discussions that don't directly involve feature changes

"would a question asking if WPF is dead or not be okay here?" :)

^^^ doesn't need employee or moderator to answer