Ask HN: Do most IT professionals encourage ASCII art in their code comments?

#1

Post by thrwway2039349 » Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 12:45 AM UTC

At some places i've worked, it seems that it's viewed as unprofessional. I think it's one of the greatest gifts to keeping boring things interesting.

Re: Ask HN: Do most IT professionals encourage ASCII art in their code comments?

#2

Post by techjuice » Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 1:01 AM UTC

Normally for SSH login prompts and custom console software startup messages.

Re: Ask HN: Do most IT professionals encourage ASCII art in their code comments?

#3

Post by sidlls » Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 1:37 AM UTC

I wouldn't call it unprofessional, but in commit messages for the main shared branches (e.g. develop, master, etc.) it can easily detract from the purpose of informing about the commit. I'd grumble about seeing art in these messages and discourage their use generally.

Re: Ask HN: Do most IT professionals encourage ASCII art in their code comments?

#4

Post by marssaxman » Tue, Jul 17, 2018, 11:53 PM UTC

Unless "IT professionals" means something different than "software developers", my experience is very much no: that's just not something people do, and it would certainly be viewed as unprofessional in most places I've worked. The code itself is what keeps things interesting; dressing it up with fancy comments won't help.