Manager: This task only takes 30 minutes. Why did it take you the whole day?

hypnotic_nerd@programming.dev to Programmer Humor@programming.dev – 800 points –
100

You are viewing a single comment

do git commit -v and then just summarize the diff you have in your editor in a human readable form.

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No, a code comment isn't good enough, it's out of date after the next commit.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

If you need to run X before Y...

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With a comment on the test detailing why it matters so people don't just assume the test is out of date when it fails.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.