I think as long as you contextualize what the goal of the project was, then it can only be a strength (it shows that you're not afraid to have some of your ugli

I think as long as you contextualize what the goal of the project was, then it can only be a strength (it shows that you're not afraid to have some of your uglier code glimpsed by the world). We all write ugly code now and then. My biggest fear when hiring someone is that they're so image conscious that every commit must look perfect... I know this ads about a 20% time overhead onto everything and not only is it extremely vane, is typically part of a quest to get job offers, etc. In general not things that are valuable to the current employer at all.