The diagrams I am pasting in are usually like 80 x 40 chars and keep you from having to tab out into documentation. They don’t change often so they don’t create messy diffs. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Nobody on my team seems to mind. I don’t think this is a problem and I’m having trouble understanding why you think it is.
If you’re wondering why I need diagrams in source code, then the answer is I usually don’t need them but it helps. The only project where they were game changing was where we were using Neo4j as a backend and being able to clearly diagram the data model was really helpful.
I don't really have much of an issue with it. It's got bad vibes by association. I find it a little annoying how much stuff is done with text, and this is just a small part of that.
If you’re wondering why I need diagrams in source code, then the answer is I usually don’t need them but it helps. The only project where they were game changing was where we were using Neo4j as a backend and being able to clearly diagram the data model was really helpful.