Collective Wisdom from the Experts 187
If you reflect on it, the code you wrote many years ago still influences your
career, whether you like it or not. You leave a trail of your knowledge, attitude,
tenacity, professionalism, level of commitment, and degree of enjoyment with
every method, class, and module you design and write. People will form opin-
ions about you based on the code that they see. If those opinions are constantly
negative, you will get less from your career than you hoped. Take care of your
career, of your clients, and of your users with every line of code—write code as
if you had to support it for the rest of your life.