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Discussion on: Why clean code is not the norm?

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Scott Simontis

60% of a project's expenditures come in the maintenance phase of the project. I think more companies need to realize what a huge investment they are making. That's my favorite go-to to justify my position. That and handoffs to the next developer. Is this something you want to actually maintain yourself someday? Or are you going to keep on paying consultants $160/hr every time you need to make a change because you don't understand the code?

I suppose I don't quite buy into the whole MVP thing either. What good is it if I ship a product that sucks faster than anyone else? Users aren't going to be impressed when it is buggy as hell and they are paying to beta test things.

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Paweł Kowalski

MVP doesnt mean it has to suck. Quite the opposite. It has to provide value to the user that has a need.

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Sandor Dargo

That's a very good point, I've also tried to use a similar one with management and at presentations. There is a very good book that can underpin this argument. Code Simplicity in its third chapter introduces the equation of software design which includes the effort involved in introducing a change. Not surprisingly for us, it talks a lot about how much maintenance costs matter in those efforts. I think it even goes further than 60%, but the point is there.