It’s impressive how programming can come and go freely from the virtual world to the real world. We’re talking about algorithms made based on genetics/evolution and how an ant colony works to cars that drive autonomously and robots that can print bridges and houses.
And, would look at that, washing your dishes is one of those things.
How to wash your code
- Don’t overcomplicate it
Think with me, I’m not crazy (yet). When you look at a pile of different dishes and dirty shapes on your sink, you don’t stay there paralyzed trying to think of the best pan or cup that you should start with. You just roll over your sleeves, get the sponge and start with the one that you feel you should.
And that’s exactly how you should code. Imagine yourself with a 30 + items to-do list, it might sound scary and demotivating but so are the dishes, and you still go there and wash them without overthinking. If you focus on not letting the size of the whole task stop you from taking one plate at a time, you will finish it, trust me.
And the best part: You can use the time you saved reading more articles instead of feeling bad! :D
- Don’t let it accumulate
We’re always in a hurry and that is why washing the dishes is never a priority, I get that. And that’s why I was always out of plates, forks, and space on my sink. I tried a lot of things to not let it accumulate, always washing while someone cooks, leaving the dishes in water to make it easy, and others… But the best way by far I’ve found is to just clean it when it’s dirty, that's all.
Do you know where I see this situation of small things accumulating over time? Yeah, that gigantic list you call technical debt backlog. I know we don’t always have the time - most of the time, we don’t - to make the code we would like to, but if you can spend the extra 15 minutes to fix one more detail every time you see something “dirty” on your codebase you’ll see some drastic changes in no time.
In both cases, all you need is a few minutes and the courage to confront them face-to-face.
Write your own dishes
It’s funny how you can change the way you see something by mixing hate, love, and some philosophy. I hope you guys liked my little metaphor, my first post, and if you have some other crazy philosophy, post it in the comments!
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