I'm sorry
Looking back at my work over the years, I can probably say that the ugliest and shittiest code has always made me the most money.  Why?  End-users couldn't care less what the code looks like.  If you are faced with an opportunity you write an ugly glued-together MVP, show it and get it working.  It was only after making money that the code got cleaned-up and polished.<p>The same is the case with "temporary" tools that you write here and there.  Ugly piles of smelly manure until you decide to clean them up.<p>Of course, as you gain experience you can write less "smelly" code from the very start, that's only to be expected.<p>I can also probably say with almost absolute certainty that projects where I took the approach of writing a "Monument to Computer Science" almost never made me any money.<p>I find that for some people programming can be very personal.  Criticism can really affect them.  Perhaps this is also something that you get past with experience.  And, while I always strive to write good, clean and efficient code, I, personally, realized a long time ago that the very first priority is to put food on the table and grow the business or support the growth of the company where you are employed.<p>People who get off on criticizing others for anything (not just their code but anything at all) are, regardless of their standing within their community, simply despicable.<p>A lot of these people are also cowards.  Not saying that these guys are.  I don't know them. But I'll bet they would not stand in front of a real crowd of people (you know, they kind that you can touch and see) with Heather in the same room and make those comments.  Why is it that some people might have restraint and manners in public but can turn into perfect assholes behind a keyboard?<p>This is one of those "You can't un-ring a bell" situations.<p>The other one I like is the equating of such acts to tearing open a pillow full of feathers atop a mountain.  To undo your actions you have to go to every corner of that mountain and gather all the feathers.  In other words, it's very easy to utter just a few nasty words and cause someone pain and even harm.  It is orders of magnitude harder to undo that.<p>In my opinion, an apology simply isn't enough.  I don't know what might constitute equitable reparations, but apologies in blogs are just too easy.  The author sleeps well at night while the victim still has to deal with the feathers spread all over the mountain that is the Internet.<p>N.B: It is important to note that Corey did reach out to Heather personally (see his post on this thread).  This, of course, makes him a gentlemen and I am sure Heather feels much better.  Nothing beats real one-on-one human contact.  Bravo.