Better TODO comment for your code

26 Jul 2013

Usually, when I have to do something in my code, I add a TODO comment (and forget about it).

For example

	class UserThank
	  module Scores
	  
	    def _score
	      return Scoring::UserLeaderboard::WEIGHTS[:thanks]
	    end
	
		 # TODO: Should this be the user attached to the activity or should this be the thanked user?
		 # Ask product and change the code
	    def _receiver
	      [self.user]
	    end
	
	  end
	end

I have the shortcuts to show all TODO in vim, but it’s clearly not in my muscle memory and not in any kind of memory, natural or computerized, I just don’t do it enough, so it adds up and I feel bad about it.

Today, while coding I encountered this case, where clearly it’s not just a simple thing, it’s not just something I as an engineer care about, it’s a product related thing and affects core user experience.

So, I think I found a better way to actually make sure I DO my TODO.

I thought to myself, what do I notice every single time, I never overlook…

The answer was clear, tests, if a test fails I will never overlook it, will never deploy if a single test fails, same goes for the rest of the team.

so here’s the solution

	context "User Thank" do
	  it "should score the user" do
	    pending "This is pending some investigation on the product side, right now I will fail it" do
	      true.should be_true
	    end
	  end
	end

I make use of a super useful Rspec feature, where you pass false or an exception into a pending block, it fails the spec.

I just describe the problem in detail, and that’s it, this is a piece of code that will be dealt with, before deploy.