📦 Managing a Shared Codebase: It's Like Living in a House

Ever lived with roommates? That's what working in a shared codebase is like. Every decision leaves a trace. Every shortcut becomes someone else's cleanup job. And eventually, if no one takes responsibility, the house becomes a disaster.

Let's talk messes, maintenance, and knowing when not to add more to the pile.

🧹 Mess in Your Room? Your Problem. Mess in the Kitchen? Everyone’s Problem.

A mess in your corner of the codebase is one thing. Annoying, maybe — but contained. A mess in a shared module, utility, or base class? That’s a problem for everyone.

Prioritize cleaning up shared code. That’s the stuff that multiplies confusion, introduces bugs across the board, and slows down the entire team. Personal space can wait. Common areas first.

🧼 Code Is Like a House: You're Always Making a Mess

Codebases aren’t meant to be pristine. Just like a home, they’re meant to be lived in. That means messes are natural — the key is deciding when they’re worth cleaning.

You don’t deep-clean your whole house every day. You wipe surfaces when they’re dirty. You clean out the fridge before guests come over. You do the big stuff when it starts affecting your ability to function.

Same goes for code. Don’t panic over every untidy line. Plan your cleanups around meaningful moments — before a major release, during a lull, or when things just aren’t working anymore.

🚨 You Know When It’s Bad

If the sink smells, you don’t need a second opinion. Same with code. When it’s slowing you down, when you’re afraid to touch it, when it feels easier to rewrite than to reuse — it’s time to clean.

Don’t wait for someone else to notice. You know when your own mess is holding you back.

🪶 You’re Carrying Too Much

A messy home isn’t always a cleaning problem. Sometimes, it’s a stuff problem. Too much furniture. Too many gadgets. Too much to maintain.

Same with code. If you’re juggling too much logic, too many tools, too many one-off solutions, your codebase isn’t messy — it’s overgrown. Let go. Archive. Delete. Reduce ownership. Give things away. Your team — and your future self — will thank you.

✋ Not Everything Needs Code

Sometimes the best decision you make as an engineer is to not write more code.

Don’t automate the thing that only takes 10 seconds. Don’t build new abstractions when the old ones still work. Don’t guess future problems and engineer solutions for things that may never exist.

This is your house. Before you renovate, make sure you’re not just adding square footage to avoid cleaning the kitchen.

🏁 Wrap-Up

Every engineer lives in a house of their own making. Some parts are clean. Some parts are chaos. The trick isn’t to avoid messes — it’s to know when they’re yours to clean, when they’re holding back the whole team, and when the smartest thing to do is simply own less.

Code like you live there.