Code Confessions: The 'Less Gross Name' TODO

Description

A screenshot of a code editor with a dark theme, displaying what appears to be JavaScript or TypeScript code. The focus is on a JSDoc comment block above a function definition. The comment contains a humorous and relatable developer note. The visible code includes functions like `isInsideParentTop(elementY)` and `isInsideParentBottom(elementY)`. The highlighted comment block reads: '/** * TODO find a less gross name. * @param elementY * @return {boolean} */'. This image captures a candid moment in software development, where a programmer leaves a self-deprecating note for their future self or colleagues. The humor resonates with experienced developers who understand that naming things is one of the hard problems in computer science and that sometimes you have to leave a 'gross' name as a placeholder just to keep moving, flagging it as a piece of technical debt to be addressed later

Common Tags

Javascript CodeQuality NamingThings CodeComments CodeSmells Frontend

Comments

Anonymous ★ Top Pick There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things, and TODO comments that become permanent architectural features

Anonymous ★ Top Pick

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things, and TODO comments that become permanent architectural features
Anonymous

This code finally reconciled CSS layout with Euclidean geometry; the price was a function called isInsideParentBottom() - proof that eventual consistency applies to naming conventions too
Anonymous

After 15 years in the industry, I've realized that 'grass name' TODOs are the technical debt equivalent of 'temporary' AWS resources from 2019 - they become permanent fixtures that future archaeologists will puzzle over while refactoring your legacy codebase into whatever quantum-blockchain-AI framework is trendy in 2030
Anonymous

Nothing says 'I know this is terrible but I'm shipping it anyway' quite like a TODO comment admitting your function name is gross. At least they documented their shame in JSDoc format - that's the kind of professional self-loathing that separates senior engineers from juniors. The function will probably still be called 'isInsideParentBottom' in production five years from now, with three layers of wrapper functions around it, each with their own TODO about renaming it
Anonymous

Define the coordinate contract once; otherwise every isInsideParentBottom() becomes bottom + padding + size.height + hope - and the drag feels flaky at 125% DPI
Anonymous

isInsideParentBottom(y) + safePadding + size.height + getClientRects()[0] - frontend’s eventual consistency: if it looks right within a couple pixels, we call it inside
Anonymous

TODO: less gross name. Reality: DOM parenting was never meant to be pretty - it's all gross margins and boundary issues
Deleted Account 5y

Лан
@LastStranger 5y

In java you need two monitors, the first vertical orientated, for code and the second horizontal orientated to see full name of method in one string
1. Deleted Account 5y
  
  one for class names and one for stack trace
  
  dev_meme 5y
  
  stack traces for C
  
  @zvr63fu 5y
  
  > стек трейс в С Segmetation fault (core dumped)
2. Deleted Account 5y
  
  that's js tho
3. @doorhinge 5y
  
  alt+z
4. @nameToString 5y
  
  System.out.println
@obemenko 5y

Damn this method names look kinda thicc
@crysknight 5y

Easy: isInsideStepParentBottom