Browse Exhibits (1 total)

Even in the very technical field of software design, communication matters. Code comments are snippets of "human text" that programmers use to talk to themselves and each other. They explain how a piece of code works, form to-do lists, or express frustration, joy, or surprise.

Comments are interspersed within code documents themselves and set off by special characters, which tell the system to ignore what follows because it's for the human programmer to read. Different programming languages use different conventions. For example,

<!-- this is a comment in HTML, -->

// this is a comment in C++,

# and this is a comment in Python.

Regardless of programming language, comments tend to fall into a few categories: documentation, or explaining how the code works (often required in college assignments); communication, especially important in collaborative environments; and simple expression, not serving any technical purpose.

This exhibit uses code comments written by college students to see a snapshot of how they felt when they wrote them. Software is like a machine; there is very little room for error in its design. But code comments, invisible to computers, are an unfiltered trove of information about people's experiences. They are the rare human fingerprint on an otherwise cold, mechanical system.