5 ms·

Why are you searching a year or more back? Is this using git blame?

shakna 4y ago
To explain why a certain block of code exists. When the code came into existence is rarely that important. You just want to know why. Why does the code fence against a particular circumstance you didn't think should be possible? Why does it call out to something you think is unrelated? Those questions can be answered by a proper commit message.
- kazinator 4y ago
  Sometimes, in some kinds of projects, the commit messages looks like this: JIRA: #1234 Adjusted the FOOBAR parameter from 42 to 73. To know the "why", you have to read the ticket; you will not find anything in the git log.
  - erik_seaberg 4y ago
    Oh jeez, please do not make me run “git log” and then open a hundred tabs in an old bug tracker that may or may not still exist to figure out when a problem may have been introduced. I want code reviewers to insist on at least somewhat useful messages for us to skim at 3 AM.
- ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
  I set a breakpoint and run the test suite for that answer
  - fragmede 4y ago
    That answers what the code does, but not why it does what it does.
  - tuwtuwtuwtuw 4y ago
    So you never need to understand when or why a bug was introduced? Or you never need to understand why the current behavior as is it is?
    - ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
  - ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
    - dang 4y ago
      Could you please stop breaking the site guidelines? You've been doing it a lot lately, unfortunately. Not just with these off-topic complaints about downvoting, but with comments like these: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32104697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32104697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085736 We eventually ban accounts that carry on like this on HN. I don't want to ban you, so if you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it.
      - ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
        Some of those comments were in response to people calling me a liar with upvotes on their comments and downvotes on mine. It's incredibly irritating and frustrating when it appears those accusing me of lying not suffer any consequences. For example (one that you linked to) a person said I was wrong and his comment wasn't flagged yet when I asked him to stop replying to my comments (many of my comments in the thread weren't on his comments) mine gets flagged https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054
        dang 4y ago
        It's certainly irritating and frustrating, but it doesn't make it ok to break the rules. If you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it. (There are far too many posts here for us to read them all.) You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=likeliest%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
- d3nj4l 4y ago
  Why don’t you put that as a comment on the code?
  - kazinator 4y ago
    Because if 37 changes are done to the same 15 line function over time, the amount of comment material will dwarf the function. And most of it will pertain to historic versions of the function which are not what actually appears below the comment; a comment made 13 revisions ago makes sense for the 13-revision-old version of the function.
    - d3nj4l 4y ago
      You just update the comment?
  - lexicality 4y ago
    Comments are for why code is written the way it is, commits are for why the code is written in the first place. You _could_ tag every line of code with // JIRA-123 The PM wants this to be blue but if you did it would become unreadable and wouldn't be kept up to date.

To explain why a certain block of code exists. When the code came into existence is rarely that important. You just want to know why. Why does the code fence against a particular circumstance you didn't think should be possible? Why does it call out to something you think is unrelated? Those questions can be answered by a proper commit message.

kazinator 4y ago
Sometimes, in some kinds of projects, the commit messages looks like this: JIRA: #1234 Adjusted the FOOBAR parameter from 42 to 73. To know the "why", you have to read the ticket; you will not find anything in the git log.
- erik_seaberg 4y ago
  Oh jeez, please do not make me run “git log” and then open a hundred tabs in an old bug tracker that may or may not still exist to figure out when a problem may have been introduced. I want code reviewers to insist on at least somewhat useful messages for us to skim at 3 AM.
ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
I set a breakpoint and run the test suite for that answer
- fragmede 4y ago
  That answers what the code does, but not why it does what it does.
- tuwtuwtuwtuw 4y ago
  So you never need to understand when or why a bug was introduced? Or you never need to understand why the current behavior as is it is?
  - ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
- ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
  - dang 4y ago
    Could you please stop breaking the site guidelines? You've been doing it a lot lately, unfortunately. Not just with these off-topic complaints about downvoting, but with comments like these: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32104697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32104697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085905 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32085736 We eventually ban accounts that carry on like this on HN. I don't want to ban you, so if you'd please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules when posting here, we'd appreciate it.
    - ArrayBoundCheck 4y ago
      Some of those comments were in response to people calling me a liar with upvotes on their comments and downvotes on mine. It's incredibly irritating and frustrating when it appears those accusing me of lying not suffer any consequences. For example (one that you linked to) a person said I was wrong and his comment wasn't flagged yet when I asked him to stop replying to my comments (many of my comments in the thread weren't on his comments) mine gets flagged https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32086054
      - dang 4y ago
        It's certainly irritating and frustrating, but it doesn't make it ok to break the rules. If you see a post that ought to have been moderated but hasn't been, the likeliest explanation is that we didn't see it. (There are far too many posts here for us to read them all.) You can help by flagging it or emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=likeliest%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
d3nj4l 4y ago
Why don’t you put that as a comment on the code?
- kazinator 4y ago
  Because if 37 changes are done to the same 15 line function over time, the amount of comment material will dwarf the function. And most of it will pertain to historic versions of the function which are not what actually appears below the comment; a comment made 13 revisions ago makes sense for the 13-revision-old version of the function.
  - d3nj4l 4y ago
    You just update the comment?
- lexicality 4y ago
  Comments are for why code is written the way it is, commits are for why the code is written in the first place. You _could_ tag every line of code with // JIRA-123 The PM wants this to be blue but if you did it would become unreadable and wouldn't be kept up to date.