[edu_guitar]

One notable difference between scientific code and regular software development is that the code scientists write is an implementation of well defined/documented mathematical models, while in a, say, web application, there is no reference paper or research, the code _is_ the reference. That's why best practices are important, not for the person writing a piece of software now, but for the future. If you need to change scientific code, papers and specification make otherwise confusing structure more manageable.