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  Comments

Introduction to Comments

Internal  documentation  of programs  is done  by the use  of comments. All language provide a means  for  writing  comments in programs. Comments are textual statements that  are meant for the program reader and are not executed. Comment  if properly written and kept consistent with the code can be invaluable  during  maintenance.

The purpose of comments is to explain what  the code is doing  not how it is doing  it. So comments are not needed for every line  of code. The ability to express natural language comments as part of a source code listing is provided by all general purpose programming language. So certain questions arise related to comments are:

1. How many comments are required and essential for code purpose?

2. Where the comments should be placed in code?

3. Are comments maintainable and reliable?

4. Can comments guide the reader?

5. Do comments follow the logic flow or break it?

These questions have their definitive answers. So  comments provide the developer with  one means of communicating with other readers of the source  code. Comments  can provide a clear guidance to understanding during  the last phase of software engineering  life cycle that is maintenance.

To show the  use of comments many guidelines have been  proposed. There are  basically  two  categories of the  comments.

Prologue Comment or Header Comment Block

Descriptive Comments or Other Program Comments

(a) Prologue Comments or Header Comment Block

Prologue comments  appear at the  beginning of every module: module  including the  who  what  where  when and how pars. So we must  include the following information in header  comment block  for each  component  or module:

1. What your  component is called.

2. Where written the component .

3. Where the component fits in the  general system design.

4. When the component was written  and revised.

5. Why the component exists.

6. How the component uses its data structures  algorithms  and control.

First  the name  of the component must  figure prominently in the documentation .next the block identifies the writer with phone  number or e mail address, so  that the  maintenance and test teams can reach the writer with questions or  comments. During the system lifetime , components are often updated and revised either for fault correction of because requirements  change and grow. So it is important  to track  the revisions so program documentation should keep a log  of change made  and who made them.

As we know that a component  is a part of  a large system. The block  should indicate  how if  first  in the  component  hierarchy. This information  is sometimes conveyed with a  diagram or with a  simple  description. The  header block  should also explain how the  component  is invoked.

More  detailed information  is required to explain how the component accomplishes its  goal given as:

  • The name type and purpose of each major data structure and variable.
  • Brief descriptions of the logic flow algorithms and error handling.
  • Expected input and possible output.
  • Aids to testing and how to them.
  • Expected extensions or revisions.
  • To understand the header comment block an example is shown in fig 6.43,

In brief the format for such  comments is:

1. A statement  to give  title to the component  or module.

2. The name of the component designer ( author)

3. The calling  sequence required for the interface description.

4. A development  history  that includes

5. Date  when first  version of this modules was  released.

6. Modification dates  and description.

7. A statement  of purpose that  includes the function of the  modules.

8. A discussing  of pertinent data and its various structures such   as  important  variables arrays linked list tree etc. And their  use restrictions  and limitations and  other important  information.

9. Required  algorithm  description.

(b) Descriptive Comments or Other Program Comments

The  header comment  block  acts as an introduction to the  program. Additional comments enlighten readers as  they move through helping them to understand how  the intentions described in the  header are implemented in the code. Such type of comments are called  as the Descriptive Comments. These comments  are embedded within the body of source code and are used to describe processing  functions. A primary guidelines for such commenting is expressed by van tassel:

Comments  should  provide something extra  not just  paraphrase  the code.

In addition descriptive comments should;

  • Describe blocks of code rather than commenting every line.
  • Use blank lines or indentation so that comments can be readily distinguished from code.
  • Be correct: an incorrect or misleading comment is worse than no comment at all.

With  proper identifier mnemonics and good commenting  adequate internal documentation is assured.

If the  code organization reflects  a well structured design, if  the statements are formatted clearly and if the labels variables names  and data names are descriptive and  easy to distinguish then the necessary number of additional comments is small. That  is following simple guidelines for  code format and structure  allows the code to be a source of information  about  itself.

Comments have  a place even in  clearly structured and well written code. Although  code clarity and structure minimize the need for other comments, additional comments are useful whenever helpful information can be  added to a component. Besides providing  a line  by line explanation of what  the program is doing, the components can also break the code  into phases representing major activities. Then each  activity can be divided into  yet smaller steps, each  only several  lines in  length. This purpose is accomplished by the  use of pseudo code which  can be embedded in the code itself. Even when  code is  revise,  the programmers  should update the comments to reflect the changes. In such  way the comments build a record of revisions  over time.

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