[steerb]

This does really sound unusual. For me, the ratio of reading to writing is about 4:1. Are you sure you are not writing too much new code, because you didn't invest the time to properly understand the existing one?

When you mostly work with your own code, do you still have that feeling of constantly improving your coding style and code quality (like looking at code that is X months old and knowing you would write it differently today)?

[andrewcooke]

that's probably a good point, in that i have been trying to get the people i work with to think more abut code re-use. i sometimes worry we have too much of a culture of "make our own version" (but see below).

but also, i think it's just the nature of the work we do - typically i am asked to implement something new for a third party (i'm more a hired gun or "consultant" than part of a development team).

so probably it was a dumb comment of mine to post without reflecting more first. sorry.

ps to answer your last question - when i work on my own projects i do a lot of rework. at work i rarely get the chance, because one contract finishes and another starts. but not sure what you were getting at there.

[steerb]

Thanks for the clarification. This sounds valid.

In my last question I was just wondering how or when you (or others) tend to improve their coding style. For me its mostly when reading other peoples code and noting that a) certain aspects are great or b) not so great. But maybe that just comes naturally to me because I don't have that much experience under my belt.