[ntp:questions] sntp code: what pack_ntp is doung,
Richard B. Gilbert
rgilbert88 at comcast.net
Fri Apr 11 12:45:08 UTC 2008
David J Taylor wrote:
>> Pg wrote:
>>
>>> for (i = 0; i < 8; ++i) {
>>> if ((k = (int)(d *= 256.0)) >= 256) k = 255;
>>> packet[NTP_TRANSMIT+i] = k;
>>> d -= k;
>>> }
>>> in this what is happening after deviding by NTP_SCALE and what is
>>> happening inside for loop.
>
> Shouldn't there be a comment near the code saying what it does?
>
> David
>
>
If I had written it there would be a comment. But some people believe
that the code says what it's doing!
It's not easy to wrap your mind around 70,000 (give or take a few
thousand) lines of code! It's less easy when the code is not well
commented.
Perhaps it's obvious to "old hands" what is being done and, especially,
why. People looking at the code for the first time might perhaps figure
out that the order of two bytes is being reversed but probably would
have more difficulty understanding why. It costs only a few seconds to
type "/* Put it in network byte order. */" and it saves far more of the
reader's time than it costs the writer! It also makes the code easier
to maintain.
"A program is not just a set of instructions to be executed by a
computer; it is also a document that must be understood by human beings!"
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