I come across situations like this all the time. Literally 70% of the project work I've done has been spent coming in after failed efforts and fixing things. Now, while I like this superhero type feeling it gives me, I would like to pass on a challenge to all you developers out there.
Start with clarity, then refactor to patterns. Keep it simple, stupid.
The most common causes I see for the WTFs I find in the wild are:
- Not understanding the toolset you are given.
- Trying hard for something "pure" or "elegant" in the OO sense without having the experience to do it properly.
If you focus on clarity first, even if you don't create the greatest pure OO example ever at the very least the company you are doing work for will be able to maintain, refactor, and extend/rewrite functionality in the future in a more timely and efficient manner. In the end, to a business, that is far more valuable than some coding icon to be held up on some OO or architecture altar.
Learning to write good OO and tiered applications is a matter of trial and error. I would be remiss if I didn't point out that I have written some god awful code in my day, and I'm sure when the paradigm majorly shifts out of .NET today I will write some god awful code again. The key should be to write this code on your own time and keep your work related projects simple and clear until you learn enough to refactor to good patterns and practices.
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posted @ Monday, March 27, 2006 9:01 PM