Does Your Code Have a Preamble?

Okay, here is a pet peeve of mine, I think every stored procedure, function, view etc. should all contain a block of code I refer to as a preamble. If yours doesn’t I strongly recommend you start adding it. It drives me crazy when I see code with no documentation of any kind telling me what it is for and when it was written or changed.

Why? A preamble documents the use, need, and changes for the code. It also leaves bread crumbs as to how why and what you did. I don’t know about you but I may code something and not have to change it for two years. When I do, I then think back and say why did I do that or who changed this code last. Working as a lone DBA, leaving bread crumbs was critical as I constantly jumped from task to task.

Above is the example of my preamble I use for all code I write. It tells who wrote it, what it is, what it is called by, how to run it, and lists any changes done to it.  I find one of the most helpful items on this is the Run documentation.  Here I place an exact run statement. It will show how the parameters should look and gives me a quick way to test it.

There are a million and one reasons as to why you should be doing this in your code. If you’re not doing it just take a second and start doing it. You’ll thank me for it later.