[scribus-dev] Cleaning up Scribus code

[John Culleton]

On Wed, 18 Nov 2015 23:13:57 +0400
Miss AL-Bahanta <as.bahanta at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi,
> I'm one of the Oman team members, and I would
> like to suggest to clean up Scribus source code
> from dead code, unused variables, uncalled
> functions...etc.The reason why I suggest this
> idea is because by cleaning up the code it will
> be more organized, readable and less confusing
> for new contributors. As a first step,I cleaned
> up scribusdoc and scribus classes by removing
> commented out code.
> https://github.com/asmaAL-Bahanta/scribus-1/commit/da585e23327c5689a20dd14aa317a8d108834190
> 
> I would like to know your opinions about this
> suggestion.
> 
> Regards,
> Asma

I note that on compiling 1.5.1 there are lots
of unnecessary error messages, field not used,
etc. IMO these should be cleaned up first.  As
for commented out code that is no longer used
those can be easily removed en mass with a good
text editor. Gvim will halt at every leading #
and offer delete or skip options.
 
But there are lots of reasons for "comments" that
are truly informative comments. In my day
(decades ago) programs and subprograms had
standardized comments in the Identification
Division, including at least:
Program-ID.
Author. (including phone number etc.)
Date-written.
Installation.
Remarks. (function of routine etc.)

I would add "called from" as a useful comment
unless the list is too long. 

Comments do not only inform strangers editing the
code: they can help the original author six
months later. 
-- 
John Culleton
Wexford Press
Book layout, typesetting and Indexing
Free list of books for self-publishers:
http://wexfordpress.net/shortlist.html