I was talking to one of our consultants, Harry Berman, about coding the other day and he threw out something that I really dug:

You should treat code the same as Boy Scout’s with the Outdoors – leave it better than you found it.

So, being the Eagle Scout that I am, I went ahead and modified the Boy Scout Outdoor Code to be applicable for developers. I like how it turned out.

As a Developer, I will do my best to –

• Be clean in my coding manners.

I will treat the code as my own, even if I didn’t create it.
I will take care of it for myself and others.
I will keep my bugs out of production releases.

• Be careful with releases.

I will prevent regression bugs.
I will release to production only when appropriate.
When I have finished a release, I will make sure the source has been appropriately labeled/tagged.
I will leave a clean environment and remove all evidence of temp files.

• Be considerate in the code.

I will treat other’s code with respect.
I will use low-impact methods of refactoring.

and

• Be architecture minded.

I will learn how to practice good architecture by not over-architecting the solution.