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Discussion on: Describe the worst coding culture you've been a part of

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perttisoomann profile image
Pert Soomann

I'd say no-one, unless you work for someone with reasonable tech background and actual understanding of ins and outs, will actually ask, nay, demand clean code.

If you offer someone more features, but less clean code, of course they choose quick fixes - purely because managing code is not their pain point, it's yours. They don't understand the complexity, and they probably don't want to, they pay you for that (unless, of course you quit and they have no plan B).

And then it's down to you as dev, do you want to deliver a lot and make employer happy, but potentially paint yourself in the corner, or work with timeframes that allow you easier to manage code, but less features.

I'd say in general you have to make that decision and work your estimates accordingly, and not try to give someone option to choose - because you already know what they will choose.

I'm not advocating for bad code, but sometimes to stay within the budget/timeframe, as developer, everything can not be perfect and saying you aim for "clean" code just because you're a good developer is you just putting unnecessary stress on yourself.

Does that make sense?

Little tip, and I know it's not really proper way to use it, it seems giving someone story-point allowance for week/month/sprint and then having generous estimates is very easy pill to swallow compared to giving someone actual hours breakdown.