Comment first coding

Comment first coding is a technique that I have used for many many years, but only today found out it has an actual name! (I had a jolly good Google before starting writing this post).

I find it especially useful when I am coding in a language which I am not overly familiar with.

The basic premise of Comment first coding, is planning out what you want your code to do using either plain English, pseudo-code or a mixture of both, in comments.

Then going through one comment at a time, actually writing the code proper.

	//db-jointeam.php - POST(team ID), find playerID from username ($_SESSIONS variable)
	//	If playerID = specified Team's ownerID
	//		Add player to teamlobbyplayers
	//		Set isActive to 1
	//	Else
	//		If isActive = 1
	//			Add player to teamlobbyplayers
	//		Else
	//			Error, lobby not active
	//		Endif
	//	Endif

Above is an example of some Comment first coding from a project I am working on which uses PHP to access a MySQL Database which holds the games player and team data.

Conclusion

And that’s pretty much all there is to Comment first coding. Like I said earlier, I find this technique to be extremely helpful generally, but more so when I’m using a language which I’m not overly familiar with.