My code is sloppy

Earlier today, I saw a dude on Twitter giving a woman a hard time for publicly admitting that her code was “sloppy.”

I don’t know what it is that causes a subset of men to feel like they have to correct people on things all the time, but it’s literally always dudes. I never see women do this.

One of the things I always tell students in the Vanilla JS Academy workshops is that working code is better than perfect code, and readable code is better than clever code.

My code is sloppy, too!

When I’m working through a problem, my first pass is always a tangled mess of hot garbage. Often times, my second pass, while better, is a bit sloppy, too. The finished product my students see has often been revised several times.

Sometimes, one of my students will come up with a better, cleaner, simpler approach than I have (and I often update the program with their approach). Sometimes, new JavaScript methods and browser APIs make previously hard things simple. Sometimes, the way your brain thinks about a problem is a bit convoluted, so your code is, too.

The dude doing the harassing mentioned Apple and Microsoft by name, and how their developers put out “clean code.” My dude, if you think developers at big companies never right shitty code, you’re in a for a rude awakening!

Developers are people, too.

Sometimes, everything clicks. Sometimes, it takes a few tries. And sometimes, you get something working and that’s “good enough.”

If you tell me you never write sloppy code, you’re either lying or have no self-awareness.