Self-documenting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In computer science, self-documenting code does not require its users to have any previous knowledge of its specification, design, or behavior in order to use it effectively.
Self-documenting code is written using human-readable names, typically consisting of a phrase in English which reflects the symbol's meaning, such as numberOfWordsInThisArticle or TryOpen. The code must also have a clear and clean structure so that a human reader can easily understand the algorithm used.
An example of self-documenting software is TeX. When running on its own source code, TeX can produce a file with the complete printable documentation of itself.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Jef Raskin on Self-documenting code: http://acmqueue.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=290&page=1.
