Kotlin Code Smell 4 - Comment Abusers
Comments are coupled with implementation and hardly maintained.
TL;DR: Leave comments just for important design decisions. Don't explain the obvious!
Problems
Maintainability
Obsolete Documentation
Readability
Code and comments duplication.
Solutions
Refactor methods.
Rename methods to more declarative ones.
Break methods into smaller and easier for understanding methods.
If a comment describes what a method does, name the method with this description.
comment on important design decisions only!
Examples
Libraries
Class Comments
Method Comments
Sample Code
Wrong
/**
* ChatBotConnectionHelper is used to create connection strings to
* Bot Platform Use this class with getString() function to get
* connection string to the platform.
*/
class ChatBotConnectionHelper(
var id: String
) {
// Get Connection String from Chatbot
fun getString(): String = TODO()
}
Right
class ChatBotConnectionSequenceGenerator(
private val name: String
) {
fun connectionSequence(): Unit = TODO()
}
Conclusion
Leave comments just for important design decisions. Don't comment on a method with a bad name, rename it. Code changes over time, while documentation rarely does, which causes your code to end up with outdated documentation at best, or wrong documentation at worst.