Comments on: On the use of correct grammer in code comments

By: Alan Bowens

Alan Bowens — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:17:02 +0000

Hi Nigel,I've just come across this blog entry again, sorry I didn't reply sooner – like eight months ago, when you asked the question I actually use Source Code Spell Checker from Softario too, and am glad to see there are other users out there. It's also reassuring to see that other people go that little bit further too.

By: Nigel Jones

Nigel Jones — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:39:00 +0000

Thanks for the link to Softario. If I’d found this then I probably wouldn’t have come up with my own solution. Details to follow in a Blog posting soon!

By: Allen Moore

Allen Moore — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Thanks for the pointer to Softario’s SCSC. I’m always on the lookout for better static checking tools, and I hate spelling errors as much as the next perfectionist. Interestingly, I found a spelling error on their web page, which they cheerfully fixed as soon as I pointed it out to them.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Alan, Nigel:Couldn’t agree with you either of you more. To me, the anecdote about the pipe fitter is spot on. Clean comments and good style (ie consistent style) signify quality work. Whenever I see these I inherently assume that the programmer knows what they are doing.As for spell-check tools, all projects that I am in charge of have the tool SCSC from softario.com run over them on a weekly basis. Not a free tool, but has paid for itself in the time since I bought it in my opinion.

By: Erik Shreve

Erik Shreve — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Nigel,I spell check my code as well. And often encourage the team I work with to do the same. I’d be interested in hearing details of your script.Personally, I have found Source Code Spell Checker from Softario to be handy.http://www.softario.com/scsc.htmlThe price is steep (in my opinion) but the free version simply limits the number of files you can check in a single project. Many modern IDEs also have spell checkers built in. I currently use SlickEdit 2008 at work and it has a spell check feature (just not quite as good as Softario’s). I believe Eclipse has spell check plugins available as well. Erik ShreveP.S. I appreciate your drive for professionalism and quality in our field. It keeps me coming back to read more.

By: Nigel Jones

Nigel Jones — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:38:00 +0000

Alan: I just went and read your blog entry – it’s excellent and also very witty. For those of you who are unsure as to whether it’s worth the click – trust me it is.BTW you also beat me to the punch on a planned future blog posting. I too spell check my code. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only ‘weirdo’ out there. I guess I can still talk about how I do it (a combination of a Perl script and aspell). How do you do it?

By: Alan Bowens

Alan Bowens — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Personally I always write the units immediately following the value (e.g., "3MHz" as opposed to "3 MHz". The reason is that if/when the code ever gets turned into documentation, whether automatically or handraulically, Word et al love to turn that little space into a line break. And so you end up having to search through all of the documentation, converting all such spaces into hard spaces. A personal thing, perhaps, but at least I'm consistent.I'm firmly with Nigel on the whole spelling/grammer issue; see this blog entry for my comments on comments.

By: Gauthier

Gauthier — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:48:00 +0000

One of the best comments I’ve seen:”Added after meeting with XXX 2005-13-14″Dates like 06-05-05 are irritating, I never know if it’s 6th of may, 5th of june, 5th of may 2006…But this??