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Survey Results

What are the worst habit a developer can have?

Survey period: 28 Jun 2021 to 5 Jul 2021

Obviously not an exhaustive list...

OptionVotes% 
Reinventing the wheel instead of using existing libraries35140.48
Prematurely optimising18821.68
Adding a million features "just in case"35340.72
Not commenting (especially when it's tricky code)43149.71
Commenting too much12214.07
Massively over-engineering things40146.25
Pulling in new technologies / libraries / frameworks for no good reason44150.87
Using the same tool for every single problem11913.73
Leaving edge cases and error handling to others36341.87
5,000 line functions39445.44
Other (please comment)242.77
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%



 
GeneralAssuming rather than measuring Pin
Duncan Edwards Jones2-Jul-21 2:56
professionalDuncan Edwards Jones2-Jul-21 2:56 
GeneralAll of the above Pin
Daniel Pfeffer30-Jun-21 22:51
professionalDaniel Pfeffer30-Jun-21 22:51 
GeneralUnnecessary one-line functions Pin
rjmoses30-Jun-21 1:22
professionalrjmoses30-Jun-21 1:22 
GeneralOther: violating the Boy Scouts rule Pin
Ravi Bhavnani29-Jun-21 5:53
professionalRavi Bhavnani29-Jun-21 5:53 
GeneralRe: Other: violating the Boy Scouts rule Pin
Dan Neely30-Jun-21 2:59
Dan Neely30-Jun-21 2:59 
Generaltoo much comments? Pin
Matt McGuire29-Jun-21 4:47
professionalMatt McGuire29-Jun-21 4:47 
GeneralRe: too much comments? Pin
MichaelLuna29-Jun-21 5:51
MichaelLuna29-Jun-21 5:51 
GeneralRe: too much comments? Pin
W Balboos, GHB29-Jun-21 7:56
W Balboos, GHB29-Jun-21 7:56 
GeneralRe: too much comments? Pin
Vivi Chellappa1-Jul-21 18:48
professionalVivi Chellappa1-Jul-21 18:48 
Generalthe smart git guy Pin
rallets29-Jun-21 4:03
rallets29-Jun-21 4:03 
GeneralOther: Making things harder or illogical just to seem professional Pin
Bruce Patin29-Jun-21 3:17
Bruce Patin29-Jun-21 3:17 
GeneralOther: not following standards Pin
PSU Steve29-Jun-21 3:10
professionalPSU Steve29-Jun-21 3:10 
GeneralRe: Other: not following standards Pin
rjmoses30-Jun-21 1:31
professionalrjmoses30-Jun-21 1:31 
GeneralSource control commit messages Pin
decaffeinatedMonkey29-Jun-21 1:51
decaffeinatedMonkey29-Jun-21 1:51 
GeneralRe: Source control commit messages Pin
Matt McGuire29-Jun-21 4:49
professionalMatt McGuire29-Jun-21 4:49 
GeneralOther - Leaving Unused Code/Tables around "just in case" Pin
Member 1454164829-Jun-21 1:39
professionalMember 1454164829-Jun-21 1:39 
GeneralRe: Other - Leaving Unused Code/Tables around "just in case" Pin
r_hyde30-Jun-21 10:16
r_hyde30-Jun-21 10:16 
GeneralPrematurely optimising Pin
KateAshman28-Jun-21 23:27
KateAshman28-Jun-21 23:27 
GeneralMy others Pin
JohaViss6128-Jun-21 23:06
professionalJohaViss6128-Jun-21 23:06 
GeneralAlmost all of them, and "other" Pin
Greg Utas28-Jun-21 7:59
professionalGreg Utas28-Jun-21 7:59 
GeneralRe: Almost all of them, and "other" Pin
Matt Bond29-Jun-21 3:24
Matt Bond29-Jun-21 3:24 
One definition of legacy code is "It works, but nobody knows how." That scares management away from ever allowing dev's to touch it - too much risk (at least in every shop I've worked at).
Bond
Keep all things as simple as possible, but no simpler. -said someone, somewhere

GeneralRe: Almost all of them, and "other" Pin
Greg Utas29-Jun-21 3:54
professionalGreg Utas29-Jun-21 3:54 
GeneralRe: Almost all of them, and "other" Pin
Bernhard Hiller29-Jun-21 20:24
Bernhard Hiller29-Jun-21 20:24 
GeneralRe: Almost all of them, and "other" Pin
Greg Utas30-Jun-21 0:14
professionalGreg Utas30-Jun-21 0:14 
AnswerOther: not working with others PinPopular
acomputerdog28-Jun-21 7:59
professionalacomputerdog28-Jun-21 7:59 

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