What do you folks think about 'self-documenting-code'?? Mind you, this is not referring to POD, but something a bit different; as the following illustration exemplifies:

q`<!-- ---------------------------
<function_docs>
main:
  - name       : DispGreeting
    desc       : display a greeting
params:
  - name        : sDest
    desc        : the intended recipient of the greeting    
    rule        : optional
    </function_docs>
    --------------------------- -->`if(000);
sub DispGreeting {
    my  $sDest  = shift || "World";
    return (    "Hello $sDest"    );
}###end_sub
[download]

some observations

• the author of this demo code does not use POD, perhaps because he is sick of having to use a different documentation system for each prog language, and instead uses this same style for every environment
• the documentation is structured to be easily machine-parsible, and therefore usable in different contexts (eg querying metadata about source code, generating technical documentation, generating GUI etc)
• to include such documentation means to balloon the size of the source code
• to include such documentation means to write two different versions of the *same thing* (thus violating the virtue of laziness)
• to include such documentation means to constantly make sure the docs are in synch with the code
• python (just to name an example) has the concept of docstrings, which are accessible directly in code, perl does not
• an informal anectdotal psuedo-survey reveals that 'self-documenting' features of prog languages in general is one of the *least utilized* features for many production environments in the 'real world'

the questions

• should the author be persecuted for not using POD?
• is there really any such thing as 'self-documenting' code?
• what is an easier way to write source code that can be queried *itself* as if it were data or documentation?
• does anyone out there really care about this stuff at all?

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