Why TODO Placeholder Comments Should Be Avoided in Code Examples

On November 5, 2026, the AI section of DEV Community published an article titled "Why you shouldn't use TODO placeholders in sample code." The piece argues that TODO placeholder comments in tutorial sample code cause developers to hit immediate errors after copying a snippet into their editor, and that the frustration is worse when it isn't clear what values they are expected to supply.

The article illustrates the problem with a concrete snippet: a `# TODO(developer): Uncomment and set your instance` line paired with `instance_id = "your-instance-id"`, followed by a call to `client = storage.Client(instance_id)`. In technical writing, the author notes, this is known as the copy-paste-completable pattern: when authors write samples, their default instinct is to leave placeholders for the reader to fill in.

The piece then extends the argument to the current era of AI tooling. With AI assistants and automated Agents becoming increasingly common, those placeholder comments get copied straight into generated code rather than being replaced with real values, which compounds the original problem and spreads half-finished samples further. The article's recommendation is to replace TODO placeholders with code that runs as written or ships with safe default values.

This DEV Community post is currently the only available coverage of the topic, so there are no confirmed follow-ups, public discussion, or vendor responses to report yet.