What is internal documentation?

Internal documentation is the practice of adding comments, explanations, and guidelines within the source code of a program to help developers understand the functionality, structure, and purpose of the code. This makes the code easier to maintain, modify, and debug, while also improving collaboration between developers.

Some reasons why internal documentation is important are: 1. It helps improve code readability and makes the code easier to understand. 2. It serves as a reference for developers when they come back to the code after some time or when new developers join the team. 3. It helps in tracking changes in the codebase during the maintenance and development process. 4. It reduces the time spent on understanding the code when a developer must debug or modify it. 5. It helps in creating well-structured code by forcing the developer to analyze their design choices and write organized comments.

Here are some examples of internal documentation: 1. In Python: ``` # This function calculates the area of a rectangle def calculate_area(width, height): return width * height ``` 2. In Java: ```java /** * This class represents a point in a 2D space with x and y coordinates. */ public class Point { private int x; private int y; /** * Constructs a new Point with the given x and y coordinates. * * @param x The x coordinate of the point. * @param y The y coordinate of the point. */ public Point(int x, int y) { this.x = x; this.y = y; } } ``` In summary, internal documentation is crucial for making the code more understandable, maintainable, and collaborative. It involves adding comments and explanations to guide developers through the codebase, explaining the functionality, structure, and purpose of the code.