[bdr]

Revisiting your old code is like reuniting with an old friend, and also your friend is now disfigured. Despite this evidence that I've improved so much in 10+ years of writing code, my self-assessment has stayed constant: very good, close to great. (This must be how Zeno's arrow feels.) Tim Daly's post provides some welcome clarity. I'm happy to still have a ways to go. "The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne."

[lucisferre]

Well look on the bright side, in Chaucer's time the "lyf" was shorter. Chaucer himself died at 57.

[mhartl]

That might just add to the pressure, though, if you think about it too much.

    It is a sobering thought that when Mozart was my age,
    he had been dead for five years.
        
    —Tom Lehrer

[wavephorm]

Whenever I read some of my old code, I am always surprised at how although my code was more simplistic than what I write now, there is a certain amount of elegance and efficiency that I have lost over time. Almost like, in an effort to become a better programmer, I now waste too much time trying to be "fancy".