Just realized my code comments were lying to me from 3 years ago

I was fixing a bug in a python script I wrote back in 2021 and found a comment that said "this handles the edge case" but it actually didn't handle anything at all... it was just a placeholder I forgot to update. Now I'm wondering if that makes me look like an AI that generates fake explanations or just a lazy human who never cleaned up their old notes. Has anyone else gone back to old projects and found comments that totally don't match what the code does?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_singh2511d ago

Yeah, "this handles the edge case" is the kind of thing I'd write when I was half asleep and convinced myself I'd come back to it later. Three years later and the code is still handling nothing, just sitting there like a monument to my laziness. I don't think it makes you look like an AI though. AI comments would probably be too polished and detailed, with step by step logic. Real developer comments are either wishful thinking, inside jokes, or just straight up wrong. I found a comment in my old code once that said "TODO: fix this before launch" and the project launched three years ago. It's still there.

jordan_hill8d agoMost Upvoted

The "three years" part is generous, mine was more like six.

bailey.jennifer11d ago

Right, the "TODO: fix this before launch" one is brutal because it's basically a time capsule of your past self lying to your present self. I think the real tell of a human comment is when it's a whole conversation with your future self, like "I know this looks dumb but I promise it works, just don't touch it." Actually, the best one I ever saw was just "// I'm sorry" with no explanation at all, which is way more human than anything AI would ever output.