readme.md

Code Smell 146 - Getter Comments

Comments are a code Smell. Getters are another code smell. Guess what?

TL;DR: Don't use getters. Don't comment getters

Problems

• Comment Abusers

• Readability

• Getters

Solutions

1. Remove getter comments

2. Remove getters

Context

A few decades ago, we used to comment on every method. Even trivial ones

Comment should describe only a critical design decision.

Sample Code

Wrong

contract Property {
    int private price;   

    function getPrice() public view returns(int) {           
           /* returns the Price  */

        return price;
    }
}

Right

contract Property {
    int private _price;   

    function price() public view returns(int) {        
        return _price;
    }
}

Detection

[X] Semi-Automatic

We can detect if a method is a getter and has a comment.

Exceptions

The function needs a comment, that is accidentally a getter and the comment is related to a design decision

Tags

• Comments

Conclusion

Don't comment getters.

They add no real value and bloat your code.

Relations

Code Smell 05 - Comment Abusers

Code Smell 68 - Getters

Code Smell 01 - Anemic Models

Credits

Photo by Reimond de Zuñiga on Unsplash

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Code should be remarkably expressive to avoid most of the comments. There'll be a few exceptions, but we should see comments as a 'failure of expression' until proven wrong.

Robert Martin

Software Engineering Great Quotes

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This article is part of the CodeSmell Series.

How to Find the Stinky Parts of your Code