4. Commenting on obvious things
Most comments can be replaced with names of variables and functions. Before you write a comment, remember this.
For example, code like this:
// This function sums only odd numbers in an array
const sum = (val) => {
return val.reduce((a, b) => {
if (b % 2 === 1) { // If the current number is odd
a+=b; // Add current number to accumulator
}
return a; // The accumulator
}, 0);
};
You can replace it with this:
const sumOddValues = (array) => {
return array.reduce((accumulator, currentNumber) => {
if (isOdd(currentNumber)) {
return accumulator + currentNumber;
}
return accumulator;
}, 0);
};
But sometimes you can only clarify the code with a comment. In that case, focus on the question: "WHY this code is needed," not "WHAT this code does. Here's an example of code where comments only clutter up the code:
// create a variable and initialize it to 0
let sum = 0;
// Loop over array
array.forEach(
// For each number in the array
(number) => {
// Add the current number to the sum variable
sum += number;
}
);
Don't do that if you are a programmer. And if you are the employer of such programmers, fire them right now.
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