This. I have argued with plenty of developers on why comments are useful, and the counter arguments are always the same.
I believe it boils down to a lack of foresight. At some point in time, someone is going to revisit your code, and even just a small `// Sorry this is awful, we have to X but this was difficult because of Y` will go a long way.
While I (try to) have very fluid opinions in all aspects of programming, the usefulness of comments is not something I (think!) I'll ever budge on. :)
> // Sorry this is awful, we have to X but this was difficult because of Y
You don’t know how many times I’ve seen this with a cute little GitLens inline message of “Brian Smith, 10 years ago”. If Brian couldn’t figure it out 10 years ago, I’m not likely going to attempt it either, especially if it has been working for 10 years.
But knowing what Brian was considering at the time is useful, both due avoiding redoing that and for realising that some constraints may have been lifted.
I believe it boils down to a lack of foresight. At some point in time, someone is going to revisit your code, and even just a small `// Sorry this is awful, we have to X but this was difficult because of Y` will go a long way.
While I (try to) have very fluid opinions in all aspects of programming, the usefulness of comments is not something I (think!) I'll ever budge on. :)