&gt; Along those lines, one of the most valuable things is the bugs you don&#x27;t write and the bad design decisions you don&#x27;t make.<p>This point is very important yet elusive. I do contract development, and it&#x27;s often difficult to get clients to understand the significance of this point without sounding negative or exaggerated. It would be nice if maybe I knew of some formal studies done in this area to give the clients a more substantive awareness.