[convolvatron]

not necessarily. if we're all working on a code base and reviewing each others work, and we all value cleanliness, things can reach an ok steady state.

you have to establish a cultural habit of tidying up a little when you're in there. often accompanied by a 'wow thats much better, thanks for doing that'.

more importantly you have to foster a sense of ownership. a common issue with the worst organizations I've worked with is fear and lack of understanding. the code isn't something we're shaping together - its just some large and awful monstrosity that bites you every time you get near it. every time you start pulling at a thread the whole thing unravels.

so you restrict your scope to as narrow a window as possible, and make the smallest changes you can to fix the bug or add the feature.

its the difference between living in a pleasant little village or a squalid favela.

[world32]

You expressed what I was trying to get at so perfectly and so much better than I ever did.

This is what I'm talking about. Not just "Hey can I see your codebase? Oh, you don't have 100% test coverage and I've seen some variable names that don't make sense, no thanks bye", which I feel is how some people have interpreted my post but I probably could have made that more clear.