Comment by pdpi
20 hours ago
I don't aim for any specific value, but I find that my code is decidedly bimodal — any give file is either close to zero comments or in that 30-50% by lines range. More specifically: I try to structure my code such that the "30-50% comments" code is what enables me to write the zero-comment code.
I worked that way at first, but found that I had difficulty parsing my own zero-comment code to myself years after I wrote it. Nowadays I preface every file/snippet I write with a README block to summarize what the intent of the code was, and I redress my pseudocode into comments once the actual code is written out.
This naturally gets me close to the 1/3rd mark, I find, without really trying. When that code is shared with others, they typically report back that it’s very easy to read quickly and make adjustments.
But again, that’s my entirely subjective experience.