I’ve been thinking a lot recently about legacies, the things that we leave behind, things that out live us. The very nature of our business doesn’t leave much room for lasting legacies, sure you have legacy code, but that in itself often carry’s negative connotations. Rarely do we celebrate our old code, the fact that those cringe worthy snippets are actually serving as a reminder of how far we have come. Ok, so you previously wrote huge controllers, large complicated methods, overused design patterns and violated every best practice going. But now you know better, you’re well versed in the ‘Fat Models, Skinny Controller’ mantra, you refactor to design patterns when necessary and you abstract those large methods. Legacy code is great. But thats not the point of this post.
I want to explore our lasting legacy beyond code. Unfortunately every line of code we write will be refactored, replaced and removed at some point. The great software we write today will become obsolete tomorrow, replaced by some better, faster, feature-rich app. Or it loses it’s relevance in a sector that changes so rapidly. For me this is worrying, what will I leave behind? Is my code destined to live on only in the archives of the internet, left on a few old hard-drives, eventually no longer able to run or compile. The answer is probably yes. I don’t believe my lasting legacy as a software developer (craftsman) lies in code, but in the people I will meet, my future apprentices. Our only tangible lasting legacy is what we impart into other people. They will watch us, question us, learn from us. Some of our habits will become their habits, our tools will become there tools. If we mentor them right, they will go on to impart into other people and so our legacy continues.
I have only recently embarked on my apprenticeship and already learning a huge amount. The time spent pair programming, chatting and socialising with Chris is already shaping the craftsman I will become. James and I will no doubt mentor others in the future, the things we have learnt from Chris as well as our own experiences being passed on to our apprentices. Our legacies living on…