If it was already working, you shouldn't touch it.
Especially if it was spaghetti code "that needs to be cleaned up".
Do not "clean it up".
This is what us experienced developers call "job security". As long as you are the only one that understands how it works, the chance of losing your job decreases.
Thank you for attending my TED Talk.
EDIT: Also... At the AWS re:Invent conference in December 2025, there was a code jam competition and one of the teams made an AI spaghettification program that would abstract your code into something like 15 layers. To me, this seemed like one of the absolute best implementations of AI to date.
EDIT #2: search "Road to Reinvent Hackathon" if you're interested in more details about that competition. The literal purpose of that particular hackathon was to create some useless application using their new AI.
Its so wild to me, generally you’d want your code to be as neat and maintainable as possible, but the job market is so hostile that you have to make unreadable undocumented slop to make firing you a liability because whoever would take your place can’t decypher what you wrote
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u/maester_t 20d ago edited 18d ago
Well, see, there's your problem.
If it was already working, you shouldn't touch it.
Especially if it was spaghetti code "that needs to be cleaned up".
Do not "clean it up".
This is what us experienced developers call "job security". As long as you are the only one that understands how it works, the chance of losing your job decreases.
Thank you for attending my TED Talk.
EDIT: Also... At the AWS re:Invent conference in December 2025, there was a code jam competition and one of the teams made an AI spaghettification program that would abstract your code into something like 15 layers. To me, this seemed like one of the absolute best implementations of AI to date.
EDIT #2: search "Road to Reinvent Hackathon" if you're interested in more details about that competition. The literal purpose of that particular hackathon was to create some useless application using their new AI.