The Hidden Gems On The Cave Wall Of Code

Every programmer learning the craft hears the same command -- Comment Your Code.  The reasons are good, solid, reasons.  You never know who will have to pick up your code when you move on, and we've all had to pick up after someone who didn't.  However...

Programmers might not like to leave comments.  Leaving comments means leaving evidence -- evidence that others can read at a later date.  The comments will later be viewed as we do paintings on cave walls.  For all we know, that painting wasn't celebrating bear for dinner, but rather, it was Og, saying Hey Guys, it actually works this time!

Every programmer leaves the cave paintings.  In my earlier days at a large computer company, I had a chance to spend a lot of time working on collaborate software efforts.  That meant I spent a lot of time fixing other people's code.  And, like cave painings on the walls, I saw gems like:

Oh God!  What an evil hack.... but it works now, I'm not sure why.  No touching!

Or this little gem

No one will ever go beyond 5000 elements.  I know it's wrong. but I've got to go home before my wife kills me.

Of course, someone discovered elemet 5001....  And we can't forget my personal favorite....

This program will sort through your contacts and eliminate information from people you don't like.  We'll call them twits.  There is a limit of 100 twits.  If you have more than 100 people you don't like, you don't need a software program, you need an agent.

Attention fellow programmers, be careful what you write.  The cave walls remember....