Just tonight I had to work on a code base that I initially wrote about five years ago. This is a working product that's been rock-solid for the client. Still though, at one point, I really hated the code.
Nevertheless, I've been able to extend bits and bobs of it over the years without major headache or breakage. And tonight I had to write a simple related utility program. I was able to grab various classes out of the code and just use them, or re-purpose them with little effort.
Are there issues with the code? Hell yes. I'm always learning as a programmer and I'm much better now than I was then. Does that mean the code was crap? It feels kind of hard to say this, but no it wasn't crap. It did the job and it hasn't been a maintenance nightmare.
So when you look at code you wrote 6 years/months/weeks/days/hours/minutes ago and think, that's total crap! Don't beat yourself up over it. It just means that #1 you care and #2 you have learned something between then and now.
Oh, and after looking at the first line of nirvana's post, I thought about it and realized I wrote my first bits of code about 30 years ago too.
Nevertheless, I've been able to extend bits and bobs of it over the years without major headache or breakage. And tonight I had to write a simple related utility program. I was able to grab various classes out of the code and just use them, or re-purpose them with little effort.
Are there issues with the code? Hell yes. I'm always learning as a programmer and I'm much better now than I was then. Does that mean the code was crap? It feels kind of hard to say this, but no it wasn't crap. It did the job and it hasn't been a maintenance nightmare.
So when you look at code you wrote 6 years/months/weeks/days/hours/minutes ago and think, that's total crap! Don't beat yourself up over it. It just means that #1 you care and #2 you have learned something between then and now.
Oh, and after looking at the first line of nirvana's post, I thought about it and realized I wrote my first bits of code about 30 years ago too.