Commented-out code¶

ID: py/commented-out-code
Kind: problem
Security severity: 
Severity: recommendation
Precision: high
Tags:
   - quality
   - maintainability
   - readability
Query suites:
   - python-code-quality.qls
   - python-security-and-quality.qls

Click to see the query in the CodeQL repository

Commented-out code is distracting and confusing for developers who read the surrounding code, and its significance is often unclear. It will not get compiled or tested when the code around it changes, so it’s likely to break over time. For these reasons, commented-out code should be avoided.

Recommendation¶

Remove or reinstate the commented-out code. If you want to include a snippet of example code in a comment, consider enclosing it in quotes or marking it up as appropriate for the source language.

Example¶

In the following example, a print statement, originally used for debugging, is left in the code, but commented out. It should be removed altogether.

def area(r):
    #if DEBUG:
    #   print("Computing area of %r" % r)
    return r.length * r.width

References¶

Mark Needham: The danger of commenting out code.
Los Techies: Commented Code == Technical Debt.
High Integrity C++ Coding Standard: 2.3.2 Do not comment out code.

GeezerVison

Commented-out code¶

Recommendation¶

Example¶

References¶