Worst Code I Have Written Lately

A self-critique of my own code as a poster for the office.

Recently I have done my usual thing: wrote some bad code. Specifically, the code in the testing utility snap-shot is bad. You can read why I wrote it and see the slides.

There is nothing exceptional about hacking something new very quickly. But then I have done something unusual. I made a large poster explaining why this particular code is bad and hanged it on the office wall at Kensho where I work. Here is the poster image and the photo of it hanging.

My code is bad - the poster

The poster is hanging in the office

My coworkers' reaction was mixed. Some people just smiled, others discussed the code. Yet, I consider this experiment a success. This shows by example that I separate critique of my work from a personal insult. If I were interviewing at a company with posters like this hanging on the walls, I would definitely think highly of the engineers who work there.