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Code can never be written "correctly" whatever that means. Even if it was, library changes will break it. And none of the other jobs mentioned are bullshit. Th

• kranner 8y ago
  Surely you'd agree that there is a spectrum of shoddiness (and hence required maintenance) of code? The specific example of shoddy code given in the book is that of a programmer gradually replacing a completely ineffectual algorithm written by an incompetent academic who also happened to be his boss. The algorithm was designed to "mimic speech" (this part is not very clear in the book) and the programmer replaces it with Eliza-like heuristics. You should read the book before judging it so harshly.
• MaulingMonkey 8y ago
  Even when cleaning up preventable messes in code, those messes were often caused or made worse by trying to "do it right the first time" and tacking on a bunch of extra complexity in the process instead of just doing the simple thing that works for now. Start small. Iterate. Do it wrong. Embrace the fact that we're imperfect, not oracles of the future. I'll gladly prefer fixing up some shoddy code over needing to tear down and re-architecture from scratch a larger, even well designed system, that solves the wrong problem. Not all preventable problems are worth preventing. Preventing them causes other problems, if only the problem of wasting a lot of time fixing many non-problems that you mistakenly thought were potential problems in an attempt to do so.