The CADT model…that was a short but fun read. I have definitely encountered that model many times in the various jobs.

Years ago, when I was a developer, I loved fixing bugs in other people’s code. I felt like I learned a lot from that, and I got a sense of accomplishment out of it. It made users happy, it made my boss happy, and the puzzle solving aspect of it was fun. I was what they called a “maintenance programmer” which was something of an insult, but I didn’t mind.

Unfortunately most developers I know hate everyone else’s code, think others’ code is “garbage” (every single time) and they definitely have a lot more fun building something from scratch than doing bug fixes. They even hate their own code once it’s a few months old. Always chasing for the perfect architecture, etc. Which is unfortunate, there’s tremendous value in repairing and upgrading existing things.