Your Code is Not Special (And Neither Are You)

Ah, the sweet smell of self-importance in the morning. You just wrote a function so elegant, so efficient, so brilliant that mere mortals should bow before your keyboard. You close your laptop, lean back, and whisper: “They’ll never understand this. I’m a genius.”

Spoiler alert: You’re not.

Your code is not a masterpiece, and the faster you accept that, the better developer you’ll become. Because writing code isn’t about proving how clever you are—it’s about making something that works, is easy to maintain, and won’t make your future self (or some poor soul after you) cry.

Let’s break it down.

1. If Your Code Needs a TED Talk, It’s Bad

You know that feeling when you open a codebase and immediately regret every life decision that led you there? If your code makes people feel that way, congratulations—you’ve failed.

• If a function requires an essay to explain what it does, it’s not genius. It’s garbage.
• If you need to hop across five different files to follow the logic, you’re not building an elegant system—you’re building an escape room.

Clean, readable, and self-explanatory code beats “clever” code every single time. Write for the next developer, not to stroke your own ego.

1. You Will Not Be Around Forever

You think you’re the only one who’ll ever touch this code? Think again.

One day, you’ll move on. Maybe to a new job, maybe to a different project, or maybe you’ll just be out sick when something breaks at 2 AM. And guess what? Someone else will have to dig through your work to fix it.

That someone could even be future you. And future you hates current you.

Write code that doesn’t require an archaeology degree to understand. That means:

• Meaningful variable and function names.
• Clear comments where necessary (no, not ”//increments x by 1” level of stupidity).
• Logical structure.

Because when the next dev sees your code and doesn’t curse your name, you’ve truly won.

1. Clever Code is Overrated

Somewhere out there, a developer is writing a single-line recursive function with nested ternary operators and feeling very proud of themselves. That developer is also the reason people quit programming.

Being able to write cryptic, hyper-optimized code is not a flex. It’s a liability.

Good developers don’t write the most complex solution. They write the clearest solution.

Want to impress someone? Write something so simple and obvious that nobody even needs to ask how it works. That’s real skill.

1. Your Code Will Be Legacy Code One Day

Every terrible codebase you’ve ever encountered? Someone once thought it was a good idea.

You are not immune to this.

The best thing you can do for your future self and everyone else is assume that whatever you’re writing today will need to be changed, refactored, or rewritten. So:

• Don’t overcomplicate things trying to make them “future-proof.”
• Follow best practices instead of inventing your own.
• Accept that in five years, you might look back at your own code and cringe.

And that’s okay. Because growth as a developer means realizing that past you wasn’t as smart as you thought.

Final Thoughts

Your code is not special. It does not need to be admired or protected like a rare work of art. It needs to be readable, maintainable, and useful.

Write like you’re part of a team—even if you’re not. Because one day, someone will have to deal with your work. The best compliment your code can get is silence. No questions. No confusion. Just a quiet nod of understanding.

And if you really need a way to feel special? Just write good code. That’s rare enough.