The silent death of Good Code
Source: Hacker News
What is “Good Code™”?
Good Code is code that is easy to read and understand. It is pleasing to develop with and maintain. It exists for a specific reason—and no more. Good Code is the product of a rare combination of talent, experience, passion, and the investment of time that may not be immediately useful for the business. Unfortunately, Good Code is rare.
My Role as a Software Engineer
By trade, I am a Software Engineer—not a “Computer Programmer”, nor a “Coder”, nor any other title that implies my job is to “write good code”. In fact, nothing about my job title necessitates that I read or write code at all! My job is to create useful software that solves real problems.
Case Study: Rewriting a Kernel Integration at Modal
A colleague of mine at Modal rewrote an external system that integrated deeply with the Linux kernel. The initial rewrite was a straightforward translation of a C codebase to Rust, intended as a foundation for custom feature work. The resulting code wasn’t bad, nor was it un‑idiomatic Rust, but it also wasn’t Good Code. It was hard to read, difficult to extend and maintain, and the rationale for the rewrite was unclear.
The same colleague later invested time in understanding the kernel subsystem, the reasons behind the original C implementation, and rewrote the Rust translation himself. The difference was night and day: the code flowed naturally, explained itself and the underlying subsystems, and may genuinely be some of the nicest parts of the entire codebase—perhaps even better than the original C, despite this being a scenario where C is often considered the better choice.
The Role of Coding Agents
It was the first time in weeks, maybe months, that I felt excitement about the lines of code in front of me. I used to write approximations of Good Code most days. Somewhere along the way, everything changed. Nowadays I rarely write the first version of most code I commit. I’m far more productive with an agent at my side. They’re not horrible at coding, just not truly great. The code they produce is acceptable—it gets the job done and passes my litmus tests, but it certainly isn’t Good Code.
Reflections on the Silent Death of Good Code
Perhaps the age of caring about these lines of code is over. I’m sure there were folks passionate about Good Assembly or Good Circuits whose passions have quietly faded into the echoes of “how things used to be,” forgotten as their fields evolved. From my (biased) perspective, the change in Software Engineering feels uniquely sudden, and I can’t help but mourn the silent death of Good Code.