Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Code is not a Car

If a man was to borrow his his boss' car, drive it hard, fast and carelessly, and then return it with the interior filthy and ripped up, he would probably get fired (or be first in line for the next cut).

Doesn't it seem funny how many people do the same thing with their employers' source code?

3 comments:

  1. I get the intention of the post and, personally, sit in the clean code camp, however, this seems to be something of a question of morals and human nature....

    How many people /would/ ruin their employers car if they knew that the employer couldn't tell the difference between the car in each state (see where I'm going with this)?

    Writing clean code takes a lot of care and effort. To care is a personal choice. Many people will choose not to care (especially if they know they can get away with it).

    Two easy options, for employers, as I see it:

    1. Learn how to recognise when your code is being ruined by your employees or...
    2. Employ people who care enough not to ruin it.

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  2. Of course, it's also amazing how people will drag a muffler or a rear bumper, and how long they'll leave that broken headlight and cover.

    Maybe cars are a little code-like.

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  3. If my employer's car was anything like the source code that I typically receive at the start of most projects he wouldn't be able to make it to work in the first place...

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