Am I the only one who likes to write comments when I find code that took me a while to understand even when I didn't write the code? It helps me when I go back to that place and it helps other devs that have to do the same figuring things out as me. Idk if I'm just weird but I really like writing documentations and commenting my code
In my opinion the important information we should record in comments is WHY, because the code can only explain HOW, maybe WHEN, but never WHY. If we don't know WHY, any refactoring done in the future could break the logic by ignoring assumptions made by the authors.
I think comments are good in a first resort, along with the other points you mentioned. To me reading a single line summary and or explainer will always be faster than reading 15 lines of code even if it's very well made and self documenting
As mentioned in my other comment, names will rarely explain the reasons why a given solution was chosen. These reasons are important from maintenance perspective and should be recorded next to the relevant code.
If the docs I have to write are long enough I will include a small diatribe about a ancient pop-culture hill I'm still willing to die on, just to see if anyone notices.
The sheer pleasure in watching an arrogant tit get humbled was chef's kiss. Once by someone who couldn't give a shit about him, and was good enough to simply crush him the first few games and then dick about, and once by someone who really wanted a statement victory