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No developer ever sets out to write bad code. Every developer writes the best code they can given the time, information and skills they have at the time. With hindsight, we can all look back at even our best work and see room for improvement.
"There are two ways of constructing a software design: One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies, and the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - C.A.R. Hoare
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When I look at what I'm currently working on, there must have been a contest over many years to write the worst and most unmaintainable code.
The language is JavaScript. that of Mordor, which I will not utter here
This is Javascript. If you put big wheels and a racing stripe on a golf cart, it's still a f***ing golf cart.
"I don't know, extraterrestrial?"
"You mean like from space?"
"No, from Canada."
If software development were a circus, we would all be the clowns.
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Dominic Burford wrote: No developer ever sets out to write bad code.
On the other hand, there are developers that should have the self-introspection to step away from the keyboard.
Marc
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And of course your projects and code are perfect! Calm down dear, take a chill pill and thank your lucky stars you aren't shovelling sh*t for a living!
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Paul S Wilcox wrote: nd of course your projects and code are perfect!
Of course! 
Paul S Wilcox wrote: and thank your lucky stars you aren't shovelling sh*t for a living!
The amusing thing about that is I've actually volunteered on a farm school to muck out the stables and sheep pens.
Marc
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We have inherited some not so good projects as well that we have to maintain. The one was written by a slightly dyslexic self-taught coder. The other by someone relatively fresh out of university. It has some interesting things like all events being handled in the apps main window instead of the dialog being shown. I hate working on that project, but at least you know where to look for the code. Code reviews would have helped sort out this mess and would have helped the dev learn how to do things better.
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Been there, done that indeed. I inherited a moderate size body of code when the company 're-organized', and then spent about 40% of my time over the next two years re-writing every damned bit of it except for the visuals. It's part of a WPF app. The UI looked really nice, but the XAML creating the UI and the code-behind was absolutely wretched.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Working on trying to wade through a large application that was originally designed by persons who couldn't write "Hello World!" in HTML. Add to that a passing army of contractors who added droves of classes that have to be dissected before you can make small changes, like don't approve something that is marked failed.
I just need a day off, way off!
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Marc Clifton wrote: And very few things piss me off more than having to spend even a miniscule fraction of my time on this planet fixing other people's sh*t.
Strange, that's one of the things I actually enjoy. I get a good feeling of accomplishment by making a system better. Sometimes, that means introducing new functionality, sometimes it means cleaning up the turds.
I also think that's made me a better developer. You know, some people are only there to serve as an example to others sorta thing...seeing all that over the years makes me more aware of sh*t not to do.
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agolddog wrote: Strange, that's one of the things I actually enjoy. I get a good feeling of accomplishment by making a system better.
Indeed, so do I. Unfortunately, there are numerous "garbage in, garbage out" situations that apply not just to data but to code, and there's really nothing I can contribute that makes a system better unless it were rewritten from scratch. And that's usually not realistic, so the cycle of bandaids and patches continues.
Marc
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Message Closed
modified 6-Jan-20 17:04pm.
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Daniel R. Przybylski wrote: What are you talking about, 'bad code', that guy was brilliant!)
I've heard that a few times recently. The guy was called "superman." I so wish I could put on my blog, in big screaming caps, DO NOT HIRE THIS IDIOT!!!!
Marc
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I used to hate it too, but when the company I worked for went bust 25 yrs ago and I decided to start my own business, there were several legacy systems and no-one to maintain them, so while I couldn't quite write my own cheque I did pretty well out of it, and it kept me afloat until id developed my own commercial apps, and I still have the odd customer from long ago who puts new business my way - ever cloud !! GL
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Concur!
(welcome to my f***ing world).
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Marc Clifton wrote: is inherited from bad programmers (and I have yet to work on a project where I have not inherited code from bad programmers
That is the way the real world works.
Projects that are inherited have a history of programmers - plural. If there was in fact a single programmer then it is unlikely that one would inherit it, either because no one ever works on it or because the original programmer still works on it.
So it becomes more likely that a an inherited application has been touched by several people.
And people, including programmers, following a normal distribution curve. And despite claims at company meetings in all likelihood, by betting on the odds, the company is in fact average and is never above average.
So the code is going to have, at best, good parts and bad parts.
Marc Clifton wrote: And very few things piss me off more than having to spend even a miniscule fraction of my time on this planet fixing other people's sh*t.
Myself I strive towards insuring, to the best of my ability, that people that follow me, which will happen for any company that is successful which employes me, will enjoy looking at and working on my code.
Since I have been a manager and have absolutely no desire to do that again, that is the best that I will be giving to the world.
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Well said... Made me remember this article: [^]
Dicks and idiots
"... having only that moment finished a vigorous game of Wiff-Waff and eaten a tartiflet." - Henry Minute
"Let's face it, after Monday and Tuesday, even the calendar says WTF!" - gavindon
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning. - gavindon
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So what else is new? I have never met a developer who had anything good to say about code he inherited from someone else. We're all individually God's gift to coding are we not? Everybody else's stuff is crap! 
If you think hiring a professional is expensive wait until you try an amateur! - Red Adair
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I appreciate what you're saying and understand that you're probably just joking around, but I've inherited a lot of great code. Often I think, "I would have done that differently, or this really needs to be updated or refactored to a newer version of 'the framework/design pattern'", but it's consistent, and well architected. And sometimes, I'm like, "Whoa, that is awesome....!"
But not very often. 
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A bad week for jazz too 
ornette coleman dies at 85[^]
For the uninitiated - a sample[^]
And a quote from the great man that all developers should be able to identify with Quote: "It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something."
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Whoever stole my copy of Microsoft Office: I will track you down, you have my Word.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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You are excelling yourself.
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Just how did he gain access?
If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. — Lyall Watson
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I will make OneNote in my Calender. I know the Outlook is not good for the thief!
veni bibi saltavi
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But remember don't PowerPoint at him, he might have Access to this Publisher and now Outlook s for you.
if(this.signature != "")
{
MessageBox.Show("This is my signature: " + Environment.NewLine + signature);
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("404-Signature not found");
}
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I'm sure the cops will catch up with him, when he crashes for the night.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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