this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2023
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Programming
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Damn right. I care about getting features in the hands of my users. If code quality helps with that, if type script helps with that, I’m all in favor.
But the moment I care about code quality for its own sake you need to sack my ass like yesterday.
What an utterly blind, self-centered view. Write good, readable code so you can actually maintain it and so your coworkers don't want to kill you.
I think vzq's point is that you can write good, readable code that doesn't do what the user wants. Same with other metrics that are ripe for navel-gazing like code coverage.
It's bordering on a false dichotomy... but I also believe that dynamic, untyped languages have proven exceptionally useful for rapid prototyping and iteration.
Except that prototypes never end up as just prototypes, they die or become the real app with lots of masking tape.
I must admit that I write that deliberately to annoy the “code quality is everything” brigade.
I have no issues prioritizing maintainability where needed, but in my experience people that dogmatically prioritize code quality are not honest with themselves. They almost never chase code quality in general. They are always looking to enforce some burdensome standard or specific tool or archaic process or fiddly CICD script, and if you push back they go cry in a corner about the abstract virtue of “code quality”.
Just be straight with me. You enjoy using type script. Tell me how it adds value to the product and the customer.
Stop trying to shame me into it. I can’t be shamed. I have no shame. I’m a professional software engineer.
You're setting up a theoretically boogie man that no one said exists and then setup the extreme opposite point of view. You're annoying the people that are actually sane. You're being dogmatic in your one views and too extreme.
Oh fuck me for wanting to give my users what they want and make money right?
This is a shitty response. You won't make money if you design the app poorly and can't maintain it.
It’s a business decision. Why would for example an app that’s only needed for a 24 hour event need to be maintainable?
Sometimes it’s ok to take the money and run. Feel free to make your case, but it’s not a developer’s call to make.
That sounds like bad business. No application is 100% unique in everything. Code reuse saves time. If you are unable to bring anything from one app to another, you're doing it wrong.
Let me guess though, I was right. You're a manager not a developer.
You’re wrong. But the fact that you live this dichotomy so deeply is not a great sign.
? I mentioned it twice. And you sounded like a manager a little bit in one comment, and then a lot in the followup reply to it. To the point it sounded like you were defending it. Making claims that developers aren't allowed to make the choice you were saying to make. So it was really weird. I don't even know how your stance makes sense from your point of view.
Edit: and thanks for ignoring anything of actual value to reply to.
This is a really surprising retort.
In the end, the only thing that has value is what ends up in the user’s hands. The rest is only a means to an end, in the very best case.
This is not a controversial take in professional software development.
What is self centered and self absorbed is putting misguided notions of “craftsmanship” and maintainability over business needs.
If you can't see that writing readable code is part of the means to that end, I don't know what to tell you. If nobody can maintain the codebase because it's a mess of spaghetti logic and 20-deep dependency trees (I'm looking at you, every JavaScript project I've ever seen), the end product is going to suffer while also making every single engineer working on it want to leave.
Funny, it sure seems like "maintainability should not be a priority" is a pretty controversial take to me.
maintainability is arguably not a value-added for the end user. But still absolutely important. Robustness of code is arguably not visible to an end-user, until it fails. And that's very important. Features are great, but quality is still important and is basically the mortar between the bricks that are features. Only caring about features leads to poorly written applications.
Less chance of security vulnerabilities, breaches, less bugs fixed more permanently, faster features, etc
Those things all sound like value adds for the end user…