cargo-todox

Ensure source files in a cargo project do not contain TODOX issues.

Installing

To install:

cargo install cargo-todox

Running

To run on a cargo project in the current working directory:

cargo todox

This will list all (case insensitive) occurrences of the string TODOX in the project source files (taken from git ls-files). It will succeed if and only if there are no such occurrences.

Checking TODOX on a CI server

To keep your code base clean, it can be helpful to fail the CI build when a pull request contains leftover TODOX issues. To achieve this, include cargo todox in your CI build steps. For example, a minimal Travis setup might look like this:

language: rust
cache: cargo
before_script:
- export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.cargo/bin"
- which cargo-todox || cargo install cargo-todox
script:
- cargo todox
- cargo build
- cargo test

Note that using cache: cargo is optional but highly recommended to speed up the installation.

Why use TODOX?

TL;DR: It remembers for you the issues you need to fix before committing, allowing you to focus on the task at hand.

Note this is very different from tracking normal TODO issues, which should be handled in future commits.

Without TODOX

You are working on some non-trivial issue, deep in focus. In the process, you make a temporary change to the code. You make a mental note that you should undo this before committing. Then you make another. You notice that the comment of the function you are changing is no longer up to date - in fact, you should also change the comment of a related class in a different module. You make a mental note to update both comments before you commit the code. You think it would be a good idea to add a new test case. You make a mental note to add it before you commit the code.

You finally get your code to run. The tests run too. It was a long day. You want to commit it. You just need to fix all these little messes you left behind first. There was this temporary change, or were there two? And some comments somewhere? You can't quite recall, you were deep in focus about the code at the time. It was a long day after all.

You are a conscientious, professional developer. You review git diff before you commit. It is long, since you changed the name of a function called in many places. You locate and fix some issues. But you have this nagging feeling there's something you forgot. You commit anyway, hoping that if you forgot something, you'll remember it tomorrow. If only there was a better way...

With TODOX

You are working on some non-trivial issue, deep in focus. In the process, you make a temporary change to the code. You name the temporary variable todox_foo and forget about it. Then you make another such change, you add a // TODOX: Revert comment next to it and forget about it as well. You notice that the comment of the function you are changing is no longer up to date - in fact, you should also change the comment of a related class in a different module. You add a // TODOX: update comments in here and in X comment and forget about it. You think it would be a good idea to add a new test case, you add a // TODOX: Add test case for Y comment anywhere in the code and forget about it as well.

You finally get your code to run. The tests run too. It was a long day. You want to commit it. You just need to fix all these little messes you left behind. You run cargo todox and get a list of all the issues. You work through them one by one, either fixing them, or open an issue for fixing them in a later commit. You commit the code, and go to sleep with a clear conscience. Tomorrow will be a brand new day.

If, for some reason, you must leave a TODOX in your code, include the incantation ALLOW TODOX in the same line (probably in a comment). This will direct cargo todox to ignore the use of TODOX in this line.

License

cargo-todox is distributed under the GNU General Public License (Version 3.0). See the LICENSE for details.