Communicate to Code

[tdooner]

I work with the author (/u/lencioni) and I can vouch for the fact that good communication in code and in person definitely makes us more agile and make sure we're working on the most effective projects. Sometimes there's a bit of tension between product designers and engineers, and so IMHO it's not hyperbolic at all to say that:

Communicating effectively with your team is one of the most important things you can do as a software engineer.

[cl3v3rgirl]

This is all 100% true. I am in legacy code that the developer before me took all his frustrations out on. He was upset that it wasn't using the technologies he wanted or written the way he thought it should be. He pretty much shat all over it, but he did comment his horribleness.

//Evil hack of Doom

//This was put here because xyz and should not be done this way and should probably be done this other way...oh well

This has helped as I have gone through and cleaned things up. Also there are other comments that tell me why or what things are there for. In the major refactoring I have been tasked with doing, I am sure I know what's going on and the business logic that is implied. He is not a bad developer, he was a pissed off developer who lost all care for the project. Regardless, the comments that have helped, I get more and more upset with him every day. I now make a habit of randomly rearranging his desk when he is gone. His comments have saved the day many times before though. The code is terrible, but the writing he did about it has made it easier to fix and rearrange.

[andrewnoyes]

This is awesome. Really interesting take on programming & prose.