HOW GOOD ENGINEERS WRITE BAD CODE AT BIG COMPANIES

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

For engineers working on self-contained technical projects, the only explanation for bad code is incompetence. Other engineers operate more like plumbers or electricians, working on projects with awkward or surprising parts that are relatively new to them. In these cases, bad code is inevitable, but as long as the overall system works well enough, the project is a success. Engineers don't get to choose the type of work they end up doing - the mistakes made in an unfamiliar system are a deliberate tradeoff being made by the company, not the engineer.