Code is perishable
I’m starting to consider code as perishable. It helps me get comfortable with different kinds of codebases.
Maybe not all code can be maintainable. Extending its life could be akin to adding preservatives. On the other hand, some codebases age like fine wine, or not at all like honey.
It doesn’t get “consumed” per se. But it is consumed in the context of its purpose and who uses it. Once assigned, it can be hard to generalize. It gets consumed by an industry, a company, a team, a family, a person[1].
I have always glorified stable, extensible software. This made me hostile towards anything that can’t reach this bar. This is a mistake. There is value in writing code that will be delivered and consumed. It feels like a waste of time and resources. But looking at the world objectively, and the amount of duplicated effort and wasted time is dwarfed by the economic value its created.