It's been a while since I enjoyed coding mainly because I felt I was writing bad code. Classes weren't tested, code was duplicated, the tool being developed wasn't reliable (e.g. a change to Class A breaks Class M, N, X, V and Z), etc.
Today I was inspired to change my attitude and I am forever grateful. I learned that I have a big part to play in cleaning up the code base and encouraging my co-workers to do the same. It is part of my responsibility as a developer.
I have to make sure that I don't get drawn into that state again ... where I keep writing bad code and telling myself that it's okay to write bad code ... easier to write bad code because I will lose the excitement in developing if I do.
Writing this blog makes me think about something I read earlier that we (developers) don't get paid to write code - we get paid to produce a product. That product might be something we wrote, something we bought, something we stole, etc. The point is that a client doesn't pay for the code you write ... they pay for the product you produce.
I feel that's a fair statement but writing better code makes developing more efficient and more fun. I feel that most developers can put together something to accomplish a task and I find that boring ... mundane. I derive my coding joys from solving problems with efficient design solutions, exploring ideas, etc. The end product is not what drives me to write code. The journey while writing the code makes it worthwhile.
The right attitude? I don't know ... guess I"ll explore this a little more as time goes on
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