In the Soviet Union, when it was around, one could frequently see this sign: “Чисто не там, где убирают, а там, где не сорят”. Which means something like “The way to have a place clean is not through cleaning it, but through not making it dirty”. I always thought it was the janitors who put it up.

Now, I am one of them. That is, I am a rather well-paid janitor (comparatively), and my cleaning work doesn’t involve moving much, with the exception of my eyes and fingers. And I do share their sentiment.

I inherited a steaming pile of code. It is old. It is a software equivalent of a 10 years old dumpster, where garbage of various shapes and quality was deposited daily. I am trying to clean it. I think that eventually I will be able to do ….