# Banners, dividers, closing-brace comments, emoji decoration

*Comments and text*: one of the ways AI coding agents bloat software, from lessloc's [pattern catalog](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md). lessloc catches it as [`narration`](https://lessloc.org/guide/reference.md#tier-3).

## What makes banners, dividers, closing-brace comments, emoji decoration a bad practice?

The standard that calls it a bad practice: Clean Code: Position Markers, Closing Brace Comments.

## What does lessloc do about banners, dividers, closing-brace comments, emoji decoration?

lessloc catches it as [`narration`](https://lessloc.org/guide/reference.md#tier-3).

- `narration` (tier 3): Comments that narrate the code, decorate it or restate a name, closing-brace comments, and log lines that narrate each step.

## Examples

Caught as `narration`:

```python [l.py]
# ========== Helpers ==========
def a():
    return 1
```

Written well:

```python [l.py]
# Rates are cached for a minute: the provider bills per call
def a():
    return 1
```

Caught as `narration`:

```js [m.js]
function a() {
  return 1;
} // end function
```

Written well:

```js [m.js]
function a() {
  return 1;
}
```

## Related patterns

The other patterns in [Comments and text](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md#comments-and-text):

- [Comments that narrate what the code does](https://lessloc.org/patterns/narration.md): lessloc catches it as `narration`.
- [Docs that restate the name](https://lessloc.org/patterns/restating-docs.md): lessloc catches it as `narration`.
- [History and messages to the requester](https://lessloc.org/patterns/history.md): lessloc catches it as `history`.
- [Comment blocks and comment-heavy changes](https://lessloc.org/patterns/comment-weight.md): lessloc catches it as `comment-block` and `comment-density`.
- [Log lines that narrate each step](https://lessloc.org/patterns/log-chatter.md): lessloc catches it as `narration` (three or more in a file).
- [Docs that still name what a change removed](https://lessloc.org/patterns/stale-doc.md): lessloc catches it as `stale-doc`.
- [Summary, report and notes files](https://lessloc.org/patterns/index.md#report-files): lessloc catches it as `junk-file` and refuses it before it lands.
- [Doc files and README growth nobody asked for](https://lessloc.org/patterns/unrequested-docs.md): lessloc catches it as `unrequested-doc`.
- [Docs deleted wholesale to shrink a change](https://lessloc.org/patterns/doc-removed.md): lessloc catches it as `doc-removed`.
- [Always-loaded instructions that grow](https://lessloc.org/patterns/long-instructions.md): lessloc catches it as `long-instructions`.
- [Commit messages that recap the diff file by file](https://lessloc.org/patterns/commit-recaps.md): The commit hook warns when a message lists the files the diff shows.