Re: Easily-Read C++?

[dweller@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (David Weller)]

In article <124377@cup.portal.com>,  <R_Tim_Coslet@cup.portal.com> wrote:
>In article: 36v90m$9r4@cmcl2.NYU.EDU> 
>	kenner@lab.ultra.nyu.edu (Richard Kenner) wrote:
>>There are actually times when it can!  Consider the following fragment
>>of an assembler language program for the PDP-11 written by someone who
>>was told to write a comment on every line:
>>
>>	ADD	#1,R0		;Add one to R0.
>>
>>That actually *does* slow down reading!
>>
>Useless comments like that should be BANNED.
>
>If a comment can't say anything that the code doesn't already say,
>either the comment shouldn't be there or maybe the comment needs
>complete rethinking to ADD something that the code DOESN'T say (e.g.
>what is in R0? "Add one to counter" or "Increment flight level" would
>be MUCH more informative than simply repeating the code).

Ben Brosgol wrote an article many years ago on correct commenting.
He pointed out that the only thing worse than commenting the above
code as "Increment R0 by 1" was to say "Decrement R0 by 1" :-)


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