Stop Trying To Write "Perfect" Code

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Stop trying to write perfect code and go touch some grass.
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[@TheCodingSloth]

To try everything Brilliant has to offer-free-for a full 30 days, visit brilliant.org/TheCodingSloth . You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription. The books I mentioned are in the description as well as my newsletter. But you better stop trying to write perfect code or else the tickle monster will get you

[@MasterQuestMaster]

I wanted to do a project, but ended up agonizing too much over how to make everything clean and yet reusable that I never even got started properly.

[@alexale5488]

Yess! I obsessed over creating perfect classes, reusable modules...and I realized...no one cares that class to be modifiable in anyway...they care about it making it's job in that moment...

[@hermes6910]

@@alexale5488 You have to find a good balance. Perfect code is mostly useless and slow. But too bad code is a nightmare past a few files/hundred of lines.

[@tolotrarabefaly1333]

I actually gave a lot of thought about that topic today since I'm currently guilty about this. The problem with trying to always maintain that high standard is that you're gonna always write flawed code since you don't know everything and you end up slowing yourself down and potentially your team, and this also induces a lot of pressure and anxiety on yourself too. If you turn out be entangled in that curse, IMO the remedy is that you have to LEARN to be okay with the fact that the code you wrote is not written in the best possible way and leave any unnecessary premature optimization loophole, yet still good enough in order for you to continue to move on towards what you / your team is building.

[@meltygear5955]

It gets worse if what you're trying to write is something you want to include in your portfolio, because the engineer who will judge you if you deserve the job will read it

[@vynaaa4395]

5:47 This is the most beautiful function I have ever seen! Peak software engineering.

[@blursed2452]

that's how I write shit lmao, I guess I'm a really bad programmer then😂😂

[@siposz]

Best recursion ever.

[@DDvids123]

Oh yeah, let’s run a recursive algorithm all the way to the data type’s max value and once we get there, determine if the number is even or odd lol (rip modulo)

[@anonymous-0]

THANK YOU I've been meticulously refactoring my code for weeks.... all completely unnecessary (well... except for classes). But the moment I started refactoring, shit went haywire. I will 100% stop trying to be a perfectionist, it is 1000% counter-productive..

[@cody_codes_youtube]

You can definitely end the video just 2 seconds in. Perfect code does suck. It’s a unicorn

[@pavloburyanov5842]

Oh man, I got all 3 types of perfectionism and it really sucks me dry. Going from burnout to burnout.

[@treygardner2428]

I am just starting my coding “lifestyle” this year, starting school in the fall, and you have been such an influence!!! Love the videos

[@thekibouminecraft9361]

i started coding yesterday

[@ravikumar1232]

Welcome to the abyss

[@the_flipside_world]

good luck bro you're gonna need it

[@Simple_OG]

Good luck buddy which language you are learning ?

[@gabbeeto]

Jesus Christ don't be consumed by complicated stuff early on. Focus on understanding your programming language and build stuff first

[@Simple_OG]

@SamerTahsin my advice will be learn some basics c and understand how memory manages it will help you a lot you can watche some videos on my code school

[@begthere3839]

Brother i found you bcoz of random() of youtube algorithm anyway your way of explanation was to the point and needed in today's era of programming, thanks a lot cheers

[@JCastCode]

This is my answer to my problem lol. Currently stuck on a project trying to get a clean code. I am a beginner, Thank you for this!

[@tuhin1264]

Actually good artists have a super power of embracing their mistakes/Imperfections. Coders also need this (for personal project only).

[@Mathieuny]

I love this video, thank you. I'm just starting my programming journey :)

[@mridul2846]

Thank you sloth.. I was over optimising my code for literally no reason.. now I feel kinda stupid.. Thanks for the timely video! Saved me a lot of time n effort.. Subscription added!

[@brangtoggez6363]

This is the best video for me right now, since yes I want everything to be perfect, now I realized I am being too hard on myself, and even my friends in programming, I keep nagging them about it. Now I feel sorry, well thank you for releasing the video.

[@maddsgn9681]

Whoa, what a cool montage style 😎 Ty for the video, hope u have a good day

[@ricardogodoy7337]

Super awesome video, very enlightening, subscribed!

[@meltygear5955]

I go through tutorial after tutorial and feels like my code sucks even the moment I type it. I haven't wrote a single functional app that I can call "my own" for months. I also chase the "best language" so my knowledge is shallow in multiple languages instead of deep in 1-2. Thank you for this, I'll read the pragmatic programmer AND apply it.

[@govindpvenu]

Thank you for this sloth

[@sabinshrestha5335]

Just the video I needed.

[@lukwagoimmanuel3051]

thanks so much

[@scrudover1247]

This is so timely. I'm currently going through this, as I'm assigned to a project in work wherein it's the first project for my team that's supposed to pay more attention to optimization. The problem is I'm a junior dev who's too smooth brain. I guess I should dial it back a bit and not obsess over every line of code, especially given that this is my first project and my team probably doesn't expect me to nail it the first time. Thanks for the video.

[@netherportals]

Throwing code at an AI can help rinse your brain. I could help you if u get a brain itch down the road.

[@HebaAltaha]

Nice video Thanks for the video

[@elysian_myst]

A very good video sloth, keep it up!

[@uraxii2944]

I've started rolling with the idea that "clean code" basically means it minimizes the amount of frustration it brings people.

[@zorth4729]

I remember this guy’s video about being unemployed last year. I was too. I hope he’s found a job since then.

[@vallunacoder.wecodetogether]

Hi sloth hope yoy are doing OK. I from Colombia 🇨🇴 . And I really like your videos !!!!❤

[@kirillvoloshin2065]

Moving fast to learn is one thing. Moving fast at work likely leads to technical debt, which will need to be refactored at some point

[@alienm00sehunter]

The thing about "optimization" is that it means different things to different people. This is because you can optimize for different things. For example: memory usage, code size, execution time, time complexity, size complexity, latency, throughput, etc. I feel like lots of people actually try to optimize for things that are impossible to quantify or measure like "clean code", or "good code", or "DX" etc. this can easily lead to burnout and negative feelings because you're just stumbling around. You learn early in performance optimization that if you don't start by measuring then you won't actually get anything done. You also learn that there are bad and good measurements. When optimizing for "good code", you really can't make any measurements. I also feel like all the measurements that we do have in the "good code" space, like Uncle Bob's Clean Code, are actually terrible measurements. I think they are like all the measurements that companies have for developer productivity which most developers know are complete bull shit.

[@jayleo500]

I would say overengineering is good for learning. Not in practice tho. From what Ive seen, the only thing that really matters is having an air tight coding standard and good docs.

[@Zyhru]

Yall not hearing him! Stay with him now 🗣️🔥🔥

[@Loki_Dokie]

It's the same as writing a novel/short story. You have to edit after or you'll never finish the book, but if you do It'll still need editing.

[@netherportals]

Teaching people how to use your code with minimal words usually (Hit enter) is how to do it. I write code mostly for video games like FreeRiderHD and KingdomofLoathing , I always have time to make new things.

[@SimGunther]

1. What's the data I got to work with and how much of it must we ingest at any given time? 2. What are the problem space constraints I must obey? 3. What's the output I must produce given this data? 4. What's the performance constraints given certain data sizes? 5. How frustrated would someone else get from reading code that's high on performance, but low in comprehension speed and high in overall WTH score? 6. What's the minimum information about the domain that I need to understand about from stakeholders before I can actually solve the problem? 7. Can I draw a good enough picture about the problem and how it can be solved given all the constraints above? As long as I have this benchmarks in mind and check all those boxes, I can churn out reasonable code in record time without feeling the need to be "perfect".

[@netherportals]

Get unicycle, get a bunch of weights, get some pads for yo shoulders, put dem weights on yo shoulders, ride

[@Dysax]

another banger

[@neozoid7009]

Thanks for such Soo cool informations 💌💌💌

[@hermes6910]

It's better to be able to make somewhat "perfect" code (or at least understand what that means) and adapt it to your needs, than to ignore these concepts completely and not be able to apply them (overall, not in full). Good to read, get your own ideas and make productive, well-designed code. productive, well-designed code. Unfortunately, in my work, these books have probably never been read and I'm now in charge of an unmaintainable code base.

[@Skeffles]

I think this is really valuable advise but for inexperienced coders wanting to make big systems, hacking something together can quickly be a disaster. It's about understanding what perfections to add for the requirements of what you're making.

[@thejoker7705]

Liked,commented and already subbed❤

[@ArcheryLuna]

Yes

[@poschinski]

The game undertale has a switch statement with over 1000 cases. Thats was something that showed me that often the most important thing is that it works... it doesnt matter how "bad" it's actually implemented.

[@andyk3889]

Minecraft Java Edition has one too

[@itzkasmi]

You mention doing more project will make you a better developer, how long should you spend on a given project? Or does it depend on how big of a project you’re working on?

[@skyycodez]

What's the tts voice you're using for books?

[@hahe8530]

Thank you very much for this video! Perfect code has been my downfall for so long. I’ve stopped 2 projects because of it. I’ve always had imperfect code which has always tormented me because I try my best to be the best except I’m just competing against myself. I’m not sure if that made sense but thank you anyways!

[@MasterQuestMaster]

6:00 But optimizing my for loop feels so good :(

[@laxy-gamer]

Bro I created over 10-15 games, but still I think that I'm only able to write "hello world" and nothing else

[@erdosh5373]

same bro😭 I'm kind of learning, but I still feel like that all can i write it's hello world

[@unknownbirdpro]

Seems like you make these games by watching youtube tutorial😂😂

[@_bhp]

@@unknownbirdpro yeah get out of tut hell if that's where you're at

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

I tried getting into gamedev and it seems like everything is so much effort. You get stuck, you Google everything and you find some channel called like "John Smith Games" who has been an indie for 15 years but never did it professionally. He knows everything but is showing you outdated and lazy ways of doing everything. Same goes for those Unreal tutorials that start with "Open up the third person template" (rather than teach the fundamentals of how it all works) as they use the old input system and hard-reference everything to break the Observer pattern.

[@nicholasfinch4087]

I spent a whole year trying to build an application that never launched because I was fixated on optimizing every step of the user lifecycle. Eventually I ended up just redoing the entire thing and just literally cave man coded it. It ended up being far less stressful in the end.

[@theweirdpurplephantom1398]

I only strive for a minimum of good enough,and if it ends up better,good for me

[@ArleyChannel]

Please dude what editing software do you use ?

[@hi_beemo1808]

there was one time when I wrote a comment on a post that has a meme about bad code from a programers group on Facebook, on the comment I was asking for help to how to fix the 6 variables i made to store 3 positions, everyone thought it was funny and the 15 years old me was so frustrated 😅

[@deventerprises2640]

Write good code Tell chatgpt to optimise it ~ *Wiseman*

[@icemans1matedude339]

And this my friends is why i only code on a per project basis, otherwise i would physically destroy myself with my own unrelenting imposter syndrome

[@poineapple2086]

sloth does it get better

[@TheCodingSloth]

Uhhh I think it does

[@brockdaniel8845]

Sooo good😂

[@Alucard_Seven]

Cant write perfect code when all ur code is terrible. Most of my code breaks with the slightest breeze. But I'm learning new skills, I do try to stay with the best practices but if my code works don't touch it. Since yt keeps deleting my comments my last project was a discord bot with chatgpt integration for a roleplaying server. Learned so much in the past 3 weeks of development.

[@netherportals]

What was your last project about?

[@Alucard_Seven]

@@netherportals Discord Bot using Python with ChatGPT integration for a buddies server. I eventually got it all to work "perfectly", but it took some time. trial and error and lots of learning new APIs, I also rewrote most of it to be somewhat cleaner code. Next, I'm adding a database system to keep track of scores and IDs.

[@Alucard_Seven]

@@netherportals Discord Bot with chatgpt integration. I first wrote my code with horrible code but after the project started to reach a point of functionality I rewrote it to "cleaner code". most of the stuff that works I didn't touch.

[@Alucard_Seven]

​@@netherportals Discord bot with chatgpt intergration. I did write the first few files with terrible code to get it running, but then later on I did rewrote most of the code to be somewhat "cleaner code"

[@Alucard_Seven]

@@netherportals Discord bot with chatgpt intergration. I did write the first few files with terrible code to get it running, but then later on I did rewrote most of the code to be somewhat "cleaner code"

[@zolo8888]

Hi, I have a question. I joined a coding school 6 months ago, and we have a lot of projects to complete. Some former students who have finished the projects have put them on git hub or made tutorials on medium. I see a lot of students in my class going 5x faster than me by copying the code projects we have to do and just learning how to reproduce them. But personally, I do the projects on my own then optimize to improve my problem-solving skills, architecture and build synapses related to coding but evolution takes time. Am I making a mistake in the way I learn to code? Should I be doing what they're doing?

[@GooksanGom]

5:22 "Premature ejacul... Premature optimization!"🤣🤣🤣

[@paulkomini6678]

I don't know why we say "good code" and not "good enough code" cause at the end of the day that is what it's what matters

[@pyp2205]

I find myself writing code that can be considered as "not clean" or "not perfect". But I don't really care to be honest, if it at least works for me then I'll be fine with it.

[@Simple_OG]

Oop is best

[@vickyhuang5229]

The anxiety of making "perfect" code is the worst feeling that I had

[@pavloburyanov5842]

you going to make perfect code, but your making just nothing. I know that feeling

[@netherportals]

@@pavloburyanov5842 It helps when you have similar projects to borrow from.

[@thiagoassisfernandes]

Waiting for the primeagens take on this

[@KoKololDev]

Damn after i watch this video i feel that i put pressure on myself too much i learn too deep, overthinking and very high standard Bro you save my life, lifetime and my butt 🌚 (Really good vid)

[@equious8413]

I do not have this problem. I'm the personification of the "good enough" meme while coding.

[@enthsz8446]

Bro, did you know that in portuguese sloth means Lazy? Sorry for the randomness I was taking a shower and thought about this 🙂

[@netherportals]

Same with English enthsz84 46

[@halfbakedproductions7887]

Did you know that ChatGPT pronounced in French translates to "cat, I farted"?

[@paultapping9510]

10/10 video, though living in my walls to obtain data for this very personal attack seems a bit much tbh.

[@eltala5505]

what if you write in assembly? because if you dont get your code right you get a segmentation fault.

[@darrenzou2225]

Tgis is like Bigbox SWE but 10 minute videos

[@0brooo]

I came for programming tips and I got life lessons. What’s next? I gotta shower?

[@datpham2425]

This is the first time I see an angry sloth...

[@mamamikazala]

My man, great video you got there, but recommending anything from Bob Martin makes me very uneasy

[@Fullrusher]

I enjoy coding , and wanted to make a job out of it but with the AI stuff I just had quit , is this worth doing ? ( I don't mind doing it for free but it feels like it may end up being in vain)

[@i-am-linja]

This is my problem in every area of life: if I don't do it _right,_ that's bad; if I don't do it _at all,_ that's neutral. Exacerbating matters is I don't feel joy, and can't be motivated to do anything for myself; I can't "push through" bulldozer perfectionism, because there's nothing to push with.

[@kateiry4719]

I think our society needs a therapist type specifically for programmers...

[@t.mollov566]

5:25 😆

[@user-cs2ek6bo1p]

My new job correspond need perfect code that make me burnout

[@K29ninjaNelsonYT]

Sasa sloth uko aje unajua wewe ni manzee wangu

[@harshchauhan5514]

I will start coding from tomorrow

[@derekblaney8617]

Hi sloth

[@TheCodingSloth]

Hi

[@altu8590]

Sorry, but I'm addicted to it like crack cocaine, so no.

[@itarinsukhorino6161]

ahh I feel so lucky, that I'm bad with coding, so I won't have perfectionism nice

[@pablocau3792]

Dude. We are only trying to write simple code.

[@vladimirtchuiev2218]

As a hobbyist concept artist, I don't know when to stop scribbling on a painting

[@scotmcpherson]

I practice “clean enough code” … clean code NOT optimised… it’s slow but generally more readable, but optimized code is much less readable so… I call BS on the whole thing… just do what works and then get it working as well as you can.

[@netherportals]

I leave in a big chunk of comments , configs, and keys, because it doesn't matter for copy and paste friends

[@eightsprites]

Now I be That guy.. 5:47.. recursion really 🤣.. lalalala.. return !(n%2);

[@daninumbers]

I try to start it efficient enough but as obvious as possible and then after it works, think if it could be done better. If it doesn't take way too much effort and time for what the possible improvement could be then doing it. Otherwise I better go do something else. And comments, of course. A little explanation can make seemingly obscure code obvious but I see too often fellow programners won't care writing those. Sad.

[@precumming]

My code ends up with people emailing me thanking me for the clarity. A lot of my jobs start with someone being unhappy with the people they just hired and they declined adding a new feature, they ask me to have a look, and it's from a code farm and all of the code are just copy and pasted large blocks that seem to have never been code reviewed and they just went with the first thing that works, it's awful. So I've done a lot of top down (I'm a functional programmer at heart regardless of the language I'm using) full rewrites and it's so easy for others in the future to come along and extend it. I was in hospital for most of 2022 and so I couldn't take jobs from people I've done that for, and I've been thanked because I didn't leave them a mess. I feel that if you learn a functional language, even if you are writing a non-functional language you can approach programming in a way that is very clear from the start, as such there's no stress about writing perfect code as I'm approaching it in a way that I get close without any effort. Additionally writing things top down you start with writing a function, then the function that needs it, and the function that needs that, and so on, sometimes you may need another unwritten function where you go to the top and go down to get back to where you were. There are far fewer loose strings to deal with and you don't end up with hundreds of TODOs. As far as I'm concerned perfect code from someone else has very descriptive names, you have auto-complete use it and have descriptive names you don't have to worry about typing it all out and your lines shouldn't be so long that it's an issue (a 16:9 monitor at default font size should fit 3 panes without any horizontal scrolling).

[@Pokedollar]

Secure code >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Perfect code. I dont mean, that it needs to be 100% secure, but I often see beginners overanalyzing their code, making it more complex and thus more prone to vulnerabilities

[@arafatmohammadasifbamboowa2211]

When face reveal

[@vspoke9150]

Tomorrow, he told me

[@Alucard_Seven]

code

[@ricardosouza9887]

👍

[@ComicusFreemanius]

Done > Elite

[@BrownStain_Silver]

I disagree. I wrote perfect code but there is just one more bug to fix..

[@filipslezak5152]

Instead of perfect, write maintainable code, everybody including yourself will thank you in unspecified amount of time in the future when the time will come to refactor that thing :)

[@yassinesafraoui]

I didn't know OOP was this bad *this is a joke

[@MAVERIK_OG]

W

[@K29ninjaNelsonYT]

I'm k29 ninja I talked to you

[@AbdulGiwa]

You kinda did windows user dirty there.

[@termisher5676]

I made brute force instead of binary search to find optimal angle to walk around square that half's fps. Then I figured I could just expand aabb of enemy 2 times to grt colision area expand by 1 additional unit and go to best corner after finding what one is closest to enemy back while is walkable

[@doadoa7983]

137