The title of this article is a quote from Daniel Roy Greenfeld.

It underlines the idea that a majority of a programmer's time is spent understanding the code, instead of actually writing it. When developers write code they also update a "living documentation" of the project that other developers will have to read and understand.

In a typical project the code "read vs write" ratio is 7:1. Code is read seven times more than it is written. It's logical, if you think about it because usually a piece of code block is written once and then read much more.

Quality code is not only functional but is also easily readable. Always write easy-to-understand code even if nobody will ever read it because most likely a few months from now YOU will be the one who has to read and understand it again.

Remember:

Always code as if the person who ends up maintaining your code is a violent psychopath who knows where you live. -- Code for the Maintainer

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Cover photo by Rostislav Uzunov