Documented Code vs Minimal Documentation
Developers should prioritize documented code to improve maintainability, especially in long-term projects or collaborative environments where multiple people work on the same codebase meets developers should adopt minimal documentation in agile or fast-paced environments where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in startups, open-source projects, or iterative development cycles. Here's our take.
Documented Code
Developers should prioritize documented code to improve maintainability, especially in long-term projects or collaborative environments where multiple people work on the same codebase
Documented Code
Nice PickDevelopers should prioritize documented code to improve maintainability, especially in long-term projects or collaborative environments where multiple people work on the same codebase
Pros
- +It is essential for onboarding new team members, debugging complex systems, and ensuring compliance with industry standards or regulatory requirements
- +Related to: clean-code, version-control
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
Minimal Documentation
Developers should adopt Minimal Documentation in agile or fast-paced environments where documentation tends to become outdated quickly, such as in startups, open-source projects, or iterative development cycles
Pros
- +It is particularly useful for reducing time spent on non-coding tasks and ensuring that documentation aligns with actual code functionality, making it easier for teams to onboard new members or maintain codebases without sifting through irrelevant details
- +Related to: agile-development, code-comments
Cons
- -Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case
The Verdict
Use Documented Code if: You want it is essential for onboarding new team members, debugging complex systems, and ensuring compliance with industry standards or regulatory requirements and can live with specific tradeoffs depend on your use case.
Use Minimal Documentation if: You prioritize it is particularly useful for reducing time spent on non-coding tasks and ensuring that documentation aligns with actual code functionality, making it easier for teams to onboard new members or maintain codebases without sifting through irrelevant details over what Documented Code offers.
Developers should prioritize documented code to improve maintainability, especially in long-term projects or collaborative environments where multiple people work on the same codebase
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