[schwartzworld]

I have a single rule: Every todo needs the ticket number included.

// TODO: improve the routing https://jira.com/whatever/TIX-1234

This rule is important because comments can get orphaned. Just leaving a comment is a recipe for a comment nobody knows why it’s there. Just make a ticket or do it now.

[deltaburnt]

I don't understand this? The comment is next to the code it's mentioning. If the comment doesn't have enough context then the comment isn't long enough. Worst case you should be able to find necessary context in the blame.

I agree that for particularly complex issues you need to file a ticket, explain all the context, maybe give reasons on why it wasn't solved in the original commit. But for forced issues you can easily have the _opposite_ problem to what you're describing. That is: you're left with a bunch of skeleton issues filed only for the sake of shoving it into a TODO comment. Those tickets end up getting auto closed after X time anyways.

Obviously have guidelines, maybe even have a linter warning. But don't implement strict rules. It's a comment.

[schwartzworld]

> That is: you're left with a bunch of skeleton issues filed only for the sake of shoving it into a TODO comment

Nobody says it needs to be one ticket per TODO. For example, I usually maintain a CSS punch list ticket to avoid too much yakshaving when developing functionality. Not only will it be more likely to get scoped and done, but another dev will know exactly where the fixes are needed by grepping for the ticket number.

But the other upside is that if it's really not worth filing a ticket for, why not just do it? I'm curious what scope of work you think is worth tracking in TODOs but not tickets. If it would be a point of work it probably deserves a ticket. If it's less than a point of work, shouldn't you just do it?

> Those tickets end up getting auto closed after X time anyways.

That feels like it reinforces my argument to me. If you can't make time for it when it's a ticket, how would you make time when it's just a comment? At least if the team decides in grooming that the work doesn't really need to be done, it's a group decision and not just me passing the buck.

[pjerem]

> This rule is important because comments can get orphaned.

I've seen this argument in multiple discussion, especially against adding comments or documentation in code because they can become outdated.

But I really strugle to agree : comments/doc ARE part of the code. If you keep outdated comment or documentation in your code without anyone noticing, I'd say you have a pretty big issue with your review process.

[schwartzworld]

> If you keep outdated comment or documentation in your code without anyone noticing, I'd say you have a pretty big issue with your review process.

Its easy to say that, and probably true, but in a large company with a shared codebase, you don't always have that kind of control. Someone intends to fix something, then the work gets deprioritized or they leave the company or forget.

Maybe you've never seen a comment and realized that the code that goes with it isn't there anymore, but I have. Comments and documentation are important but there's a spectrum of usefulness. On one end it "TODO: Fix this later" and on the other end are comments that are really important with a whole range in between.

The reality is, tickets are the way of making sure work gets scoped and accounted for. If your company measures velocity, having the actual amount of work you do represented in tickets is the way you show what you are actually doing all day. Why wouldn't you want future work to be ticketed? Who does it help?