[sdiupIGPWEfh]

> A side observation here is that usually the original author (sometimes long-departed or departing) understands very well the limitations/flaws of the original system/implementation, but can be excluded from the design of the replacement for any number of misguided reasons.

I relate to this so much. I'd offer an open letter to some poor anonymous soul who inherits one of my dumpster fires. Because I'll certainly never be given the chance to revisit anything.

Yep, my shit's broken. It was written long ago, under different constraints, for a different audience. I made the best trade-offs I could. I documented them! Though you'll probably never find my writings, and if you do trip over them, you won't understand them yet. Today, I'd scrap most of it if given the opportunity. But to whomever is now taking on the rewrite, you know that little nugget at the core which perplexes you so? The one that doesn't fit your mental model of any type of programming you've touched in your career? That there is the core value proposition that makes it all possible, and if you throw that out, you've doomed yourself to learning my wisdom the hard way. If you're at all up to the task, then the next few years of your life and the remainder of your days at this company will be spent fixing the same problems by reading the same papers and obtaining the same obscure domain knowledge. No, it can't be abstracted away. Yes, it's fundamental. No, no one else will really understand it either when you try to explain it, because no one else without the accountability you now have will sink enough of their time into building the mental model you've had to construct. Good luck.

[mansoon]

Why do we bother?

[sdiupIGPWEfh]

On a good day, I'd say we do it because it can be fun and rewarding. It's an escape from the regular daily grind; something beyond the drudgery of say React, CRUD, the frequent silliness of business logic requirements, or whatever the mundane might be at your own workplace. It can also earn us the respect of those peers whom we ourselves respect the most. A knowing smile and a nod between us is priceless. Maybe we each count ourselves lucky that at least we were spared the other's tribulations.

My own efforts don't quite earn me "the big bucks" that I read about at companies I'll actually never work for. Just a respectable east coast income that I shouldn't complain too much about. Don't know that I'd be happier anywhere else anyway. The bills get paid while I'm making the world a better place.

On a bad day, I'd say we do it because we're suckers for punishment. It's in our nature.