How do you explain to a junior this pile of messy code isn’t crap but is actually years of integrated knowledge ? That the most common principles discussed in computer science (OOP, SOLID, DRY etc.) are actually just little guides that aren’t to be taken to the extremes ?

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rented_mule an hour ago | parent | next [-]

Here's a 26-year old post on the exact topic of messiness you raise:

https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-...

A decade ago, I was sitting in on a meeting about a rewrite and, before I could say anything, someone in the first year of her career asked why anyone thought a rewrite would be any cleaner once all the edge cases were handled. Afterwards, I asked her where she learned this. She said "I don't know, it just seems kind of obvious." She went on to be a great engineer and is now a great manager.

	▲	tudelo 14 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		The bolded quote "It’s harder to read code than to write it." is hilarious given todays context... it has only become more true :)

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Yokohiii an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's a dice roll to keep the junior around until he unlearns the wrong bits.

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e9 an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Expert knows when to break the rules

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ethbr1 an hour ago | parent [-]

Experts take the time to learn why the fence was there in the first place.

	▲	josephg 20 minutes ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Experts are people who have made all the mistakes there are to make in their chosen field. Including all of the above.
	▲	TedDoesntTalk 22 minutes ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Experts have beginner’s mind.

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micromacrofoot 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

tell them they need to turn a profit as quickly as possible

	▲	ttoinou an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Wait if they can do that they’re not juniors anymore :P