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this post was submitted on 12 Dec 2023
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Programmer Humor
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Don't just summarize the content though, summarize the rationale or how things connect. I can read your diff myself to see what changed, I want to know the logical connections, the reason you did X and not Y, etc.
Or just say "stuff" and provide that context in the PR description separately, no need to overdo the commit log on a feature branch if you're using squash merges from your PR.
P1000x this.
I can read a diff.
I need to know why.
No, a code comment isn't good enough, it's out of date after the next commit.
Code comments for "why"s that persist. Commits for why's that are temporary.
If you need to run X before Y, add a comment. If you added X before why because it was easier, leave it in a commit
Add a test that asserts that.
With a comment on the test detailing why it matters so people don't just assume the test is out of date when it fails.
And ideally test the underlying result of x before y, not the fact that x is called before y.
And while we're at it, assert in Y that X has been called, and again comment the reason for the preconditions.