correct comment code for apostrophe s situation

Question

Just curious how you would comment this line of code:

string customerNm = customerNm.EndsWith("s") ? customerNm+= "'" : customerNm+="'s";

Answer 1

// Enforce English grammar
string customerNm = customerNm.EndsWith("s") ? customerNm+= "'" : customerNm+="'s";

Answer 2

I would not necessarily comment it at all. It's clear enough as-is.

If you do comment it, you should explain why you do it the way you do.

E.g.:

/* Don't add "'s" for names ending on "s" 
  (request by Important Customer in June 1978) */

Answer 3

Put it into its own function, and name the function appropriately. That should be clear enough. (And you can test it more easily, too!)

string makePossessive(string customerName) {
    ...
}

Answer 4

//Apply genitive case
string customerNm = customerNm.EndsWith("s") ? customerNm+= "'" : customerNm+="'s";

Answer 5

I would comment it with "not working". Because you access 'customerNm' before you assign to it.

(You use "customerNm+=..." which means: create a new string instance as a concatenation of the old instance [which isn't assigned yet] and ...).

This shouldn't even get compiled.

I think what you mean is:

customerNm += customerNm.EndsWith("s") ? "'" : "'s";

where customerNm is a string already assigned to once before.

Answer 6

Not the question you're asking, but it looks like your code violates grammar rules.

A name should not be treated like a plural noun just because it ends in 's'. For instance, if James has a dog, it's James's dog, not James' dog. However, if two life partners named Mike have a dog, it's both Mikes' dog.

Exception: if a multisyllabic name ends in as "ess" or "ezz" sound, than it can be treated like a plural ending in 's'. If Linus has a dog, it can be Linus' dog, although I believe Linus's is also acceptable.