Does the 'need' to write good code get in the way of your productivity?
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I have noticed that in my new job I seem to be 'blocked' by my compulsive need to write clean code. I get no time to do it proper (strict deadlines) and when I try to do it quick 'n dirty I get stuck, either I give up in disgust ("I shouldn't do this, I'll regret it") or I go back to trying the clean way (which ends up with me having to code over the weekend to finish it).
Sound familiar?
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Yes and yes. Although thanks to that company's CTO I didn't ever have to worry about a deadline.
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I've always wondered if I'm alone in this one. Guess not.
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Yup.
It gets in the way.
But knowing that everybody in the future, including myself, benefits from good code, I do it anyway.
Sometimes a right way just takes too long, In that case, add a lenghty comment about your work. The main goal is to be understandable to future programmers.
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Yes. Thankfully most of my recent work was on a proprietary framework that will be in use for years, so the extra time I took at the beginning to get it (mostly) right is paying off every single day. I shudder to think at the godawful non-OO monstrosity it would have been had I not put my foot down at the start.
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Yes and no. Yes in that in the short term, it certainly hurts your productivity. No that in the long run, when you or others need to revisit the code, you'll earn that lost productivity back plus interest.
