Ask HN: What change in your programming technique has been most transformative?
It's okay to be messy.<p>Treat code mess with the same techniques you would treat RL mess. Sometimes you sweep it under the rug. You can toss it in a closet or attic. You can buy a shelf or box and toss everything in there.<p>You can clean it up seasonally, like set aside a sprint for it.<p>Some kinds of messes are hazardous and absolutely should not be tolerated - this is similar to leaving milk out or trash piling. Many people make this mistake of assuming that because some messes are very dangerous, all of it is too.<p>Most messes will slow you down, but cost more to clean up. Overall, I've seen documentation do more harm than help - it's often faster to interrupt a colleague doing something than for that colleague to spend weeks documenting and updating documentation on something that gets thrown away.<p>Some will take more time to fix later than now - this is what people mean by tech debt. But it's less common than it seems.<p>With a lot of mess piles, the important parts float to the top and the less important ones sink at the bottom. God classes are mess piles.<p>Once the mess becomes a burden, it's a good time to clean up.<p>You may need a few janitors and landscapers, especially for a large code base.<p>Some people place much higher priority on cleanliness than others. Be respectful of them but you don't have to be like them.