Thursday 19 January 2012

Link: The hungry programmer

The hungry programmer compares healthy eating to healthy code-practices, discussing the code-quality equivalent of the "healthy eating continuum". In brief:

If you take the McDonald's approach and ship shit then you satisfy that need in the short-term. But you'll feel the effects in the long-term. Your code will be harder to maintain and need more attention later. It won't have a long and healthy life.

I know there have been several times when we just *had* to ship *something*... no matter the guilt I felt at the poor quality that was going out the door. I much prefer to spend some time *now* and work at the better-quality result - even if it means "going hungry" for just that little bit longer. Still, I also understand that a business has to ship to remain a viable business... It's one of those universal dilemmas.

What experiences have you had? Any spectacularly difficult trade-offs you had to make?

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