Refactoring
Post #7557, on Dec 17, 2025 in TG
Homer Simpson's Free Programming Advice: If It Works, REFACTOR It
Description
A two-panel Simpsons meme. In the top panel, Homer Simpson is eagerly reading a small strip of paper torn from a 'FREE PROGRAMMING ADVICE' bulletin board posted on a wall -- the kind with tear-off tabs at the bottom. In the bottom panel, the paper is revealed to read 'IF IT WORKS, REFACTOR IT' where 'REFACTOR' is overlaid in bold black text (replacing what was likely originally 'don't touch' or 'don't fix'). The imgflip.com watermark is visible in the bottom left. The joke subverts the classic 'if it works, don't touch it' programming wisdom by replacing it with the opposite impulse -- the compulsive need to refactor working code, which every experienced developer has struggled with
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Comments
22Comment deleted
The three most dangerous words in software engineering: 'I'll just refactor this real quick.' -- said every dev right before a 3-week rewrite
...until it doesn't! Comment deleted
If it doesn't, give deepseek bash privileges, with auto-approve Comment deleted
Infinite money glitch Comment deleted
Hold the fixes for refactoring to dodge the next layoff Comment deleted
Write good code, get paid once. Write bad code, get paid for the rest of your life Comment deleted
write really bad code, change company policy forever Comment deleted
Please don't open that trauma :D Comment deleted
once I reworked over 10000 lines of shit nobody besides its author could understand into 200 lines of clean and meaningful data transformations everybody could understand. the dude got so angry, he made an ultimatum, either me — or him I was kicked. Comment deleted
huh. I mean, sometimes complexity is warranted. but 10k:200 is a crazy factor Comment deleted
to be honest. I failed to understand his shit either. took me a couple of months to give up. then I did a first in my life reverse engineering. luckily we had billions of data samples going though this transformation. so I just made my version producing exactly same results + 3 bug fixes, which were obvious through simplicity of solution. but well. dude was keeping lots of systems together for over 10 years. he was clearly more important to the company than me. I don't question their decision, it's just sad, that I was kicked for doing exactly what the company asked me to do and I did well. Comment deleted
lmao what a 7 y.o. move Comment deleted
you won't believe how often I have seen that in my career of 15 years Comment deleted
same Comment deleted
for me just last week before me going to holiday :D Comment deleted
oof. 🫂 Comment deleted
an external contractor (30) threatened an employee who works for the insurance for more than 30 years with going to his manager. The reason: He does not document the meeting the way he wanted him to do it Comment deleted
ouch. that sucks Comment deleted
Yeah, was a joke Comment deleted
You touched his 'job security' code😭 Comment deleted
I was tasked to do so. funny thing, he wasn't aware of it until it was done Comment deleted
Everything broken after Refucktoring Comment deleted