Reflections on Writing Maintainable Code: A Personal Perspective

Have you ever revisited your own code after a significant period and felt as though it was written by someone else entirely? This common experience highlights the challenges developers face with code maintainability over time.

Recently, I delved into a project that I hadn’t touched in over a year. Although everything technically functioned, I struggled to comprehend the logic without meticulously stepping through each file. The code lacked comments and notes, and variable or function names made sense only in the context of that specific moment of development.

This experience prompted me to reflect on what we mean by “maintainable” code. Typically, when we discuss writing maintainable code, our focus tends to be on clarity and ease of understanding for teams or future contributors. However, a significant portion of maintainability is also about our future selves—users of our code several months down the line, often operating without any contextual background.

To address this, I’ve started approaching coding with the mindset of leaving clues for a future version of myself. This means imagining that I am advising a stranger who shares my thought process but has forgotten everything else. While I am still assessing whether this approach yields measurable improvements, it certainly feels more intentional and mindful than simply aiming for “clean code” as an abstract goal.

Have you encountered similar moments where code became obscure after time passed? If so, what strategies have you employed to make your code more maintainable in the long run? Sharing these insights can help us all develop better habits for writing code that stands the test of time.