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I use #1 and #5 comments all the time. #1 has nothing to do with being a "proud programmer". It has to do with being able to easily undo changes in a granular fashion. I don't want to have to do a check-in to the version control system every five minutes. I want to do check-ins when I'm at a point where the code is KNOWN to be mostly working, or at the very least it compiles without error. #1 comments, provided they have a little more description than just name and date, make it easier to completely replace the boneheaded hack I put in there when I have an epiphany three hours later about how I really should have done it.

#5 comments are very useful when writing code because they allow you to remain focused on the particular functionality that you are trying to implement while ensuring that you don't ignore things that are important in the grand scheme of things but are not particularly important to do at this moment (and certainly not important enough to be permitted to distract you from focusing on what you are accomplishing right now). TODO comments let you write the skeleton of your code and mark the places where you know you need to come back later to do more mundane tasks like carefully considering what kinds of errors may occur and what sort of exceptions should be thrown or caught or thinking about whether or not something should be written to a log. TODO comments are the bedrock of getting things done while still managing to not forget about details.

However, I agree that #1 and #5 comments should not persist in production code. They are little "under construction" signs that should be removed when the code is solid.




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