Section 7.8. Comments

7.8. Comments

Use block templates for major comments.

Create comment templates that are suitable for your team. For example, to internally document a subroutine or method, you might use something like:

      
     ############################################     # Usage      : ????     # Purpose    : ????     # Returns    : ????     # Parameters : ????     # Throws     : no exceptions     # Comments   : none     # See Also   : n/a

which might be filled in like so:

      
     ############################################     # Usage      : Config::Auto->get_defaults(  )     # Purpose    : Defaults for 'new'     # Returns    : A hash of defaults     # Parameters : none     # Throws     : no exceptions     # Comments   : No corresponding attribute,     #            : gathers data from each     #            : attr_def attribute     # See Also   : $self->set_default(  )

Structured comments like that are usually better than free-form comments:

          # This method returns a hash containing the defaults currently being     # used to initialize configuration objects. It takes no arguments.     # There isn't a corresponding class attribute; instead it collects     # the necessary information from the various attr_def attributes. There's     # also a set_default(  ) method.

Templates produce commenting that is more consistent and easier to read. They're also much more coder-friendly because they allow developers to simply "fill in a form". Comment templates also make it more feasible to ensure that all essential information is provided, and to identify missing information easily, by searching for any field that still has a ???? in its "slot".

Your team might prefer to use some other template for structured commentsmaybe even just this:

      
     ### CLASS METHOD/INSTANCE METHOD/INTERFACE SUB/INTERNAL UTILITY ###     # Purpose:  ????     # Returns:  ????

In this version, the type of subroutine can be specified by retaining one of the four titles, and only the essential information is recorded:

      
     ### CLASS METHOD ###     # Purpose:  Defaults for 'new'     # Returns:  A hash of defaults

Note that it's particularly useful to indicate how the subroutine is expected to be usedeither with a Usage: field, or with a title like CLASS METHOD. In Perl, the sub keyword is used to declare normal subroutines, class methods, instance methods, internal-use-only utilities, as well as the implementation of overloaded operators. Knowing which role (or roles) a particular subroutine is supposed to play makes it much easier to understand the subroutine, to use it correctly, and to maintain it.

A templated block comment like those recommended earlier should be used to document each component of a module or application. "Components" in this context means subroutines, methods, packages, and the main code of an application.