Originally Posted By: drakino
Originally Posted By: Redrum
Maybe they have an extract program that extracts the /// and or // comments and the period is needed for /// cases. We had a documentation library program that worked in a similar fashion. You had structure the comments just right or they would not be picked up correctly by the library program.

This is my guess too, something like Doxygen in use.

I agree -- that would explain the MUST, as those comments are extracted for external documentation (otherwise, why would you write them in HTML? But it doesn't explain why internal comments MUST NOT have a full stop. If you're writing comments in full sentences, they should be punctuated as full sentences (IMO). And what if you have a more complex internal comment?
Code:
    // The old file has to be removed before we can frobnicate
    // the foobuzz.   If it's not removed, there are two issues
    // that might crop up.  First, if someone has the file open,
    // and it gets truncated, they're up a creek, while if it's
    // simply removed first, they're fine until they close the
    // file. Second, we have business processes in place external
    // to this code that looks at the creation date of the
    // frobnicated foobuzz files, not just the last mod time.

Do you leave the full stop off of the last sentence? Or all of the sentences? What if your comment is written in the form of a question? Can you put a question mark? Does the rule pertain only to the full stop, or is all punctuation verboten?

Maybe it's just the sample Tony provided, but it feels like this sort of coding standard policy shows up when you only have short (and pointless) comments. IMO, comments such as those in the sample shouldn't even be allowed in the code, and the coding standard would address the value of comments (not just the style). But that's an argument for another thread... smile