On Code and Craftsmanship
The Master said: "The engineer who cannot explain the system has not yet understood it. The engineer who cannot teach the system has not yet mastered it. The engineer who cannot improve the system has not yet fulfilled their purpose."
The Master said: "Code that cannot be tested is already broken."
The Master said: "To write software is to make decisions. The junior engineer focuses on implementation decisions. The senior engineer focuses on design decisions. The master engineer focuses on which decisions not to make."
The Master said: "Comments explain the 'why', not the 'what'. When you feel compelled to explain what the code does, consider instead rewriting it until no explanation is needed."
The Master said: "The measure of code quality is not what it does today, but what it allows us to do tomorrow."
The Master said: "A complex system that works has evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system built from scratch never works."
The Master said: "Premature optimization and premature abstraction are the twin follies of software development. The first sacrifices clarity for imagined performance. The second sacrifices directness for imagined flexibility."
The Master said: "Technical debt is not inherently wrong; it is borrowed time. The sin lies not in borrowing but in pretending you will never need to repay."
On Teams and Collaboration
The Master said: "In code review, be strict with yourself and generous with others. Question your own assumptions but assume good intentions from your peers."
The Master said: "The superior team achieves harmony not through absence of disagreement, but through respectful resolution."
The Master said: "The engineer says, 'I don't know, but I will find out.' The senior engineer says, 'I don't know, but here is how we can discover it together.'"
The Master said: "The best teams are not those with the best individual engineers, but those where each engineer makes those around them better."
The Master said: "Documentation is an act of empathy. We write it not for ourselves today, but for others tomorrow, including our future selves."
The Master said: "The experienced engineer anticipates technical failures. The wise engineer anticipates human misunderstandings."
On Leadership and Growth
The Master said: "The team reflects its leader: a scattered leader creates a scattered team; a focused leader creates a focused team; a learning leader creates a learning team."
The Master said: "Judge your success as a lead not by the code you write, but by the growth of those you mentor."
The Master said: "When a system fails, the novice leader asks 'Who is to blame?' The experienced leader asks 'What process failed?' The wise leader asks 'How did I create conditions where this failure was likely?'"
The Master said: "The most profound act of technical leadership is to serve as a model for what you expect from others."
The Master said: "A strong engineering culture cannot be commanded into existence. It emerges from countless small actions that demonstrate and reinforce its values."
The Master said: "Estimates are always uncertain. The amateur sees this as a problem to solve with more detailed planning. The professional sees it as a reality to communicate and manage."
The Master said: "The team lead who is feared creates timid engineers. The team lead who is respected creates responsible engineers. The team lead who is trusted creates courageous engineers."
On Technology Choices
The Master said: "Choose boring technology for the core of your system. Reserve innovation for the areas that differentiate your product."
The Master said: "The skilled engineer knows when to apply patterns. The wise engineer knows when to break them."
The Master said: "Every technology choice has three components: the technical, the strategic, and the cultural. Evaluate all three."
The Master said: "The best architecture is not one that anticipates all changes, but one that accommodates unexpected change with minimal pain."
The Master said: "The technology stack that has been operating successfully in production for three years has wisdom embedded in it that is not immediately visible to newcomers proposing change."
On Professional Ethics
The Master said: "An engineer should feel an obligation to three constituencies: to users, by building systems worthy of their trust; to colleagues, by creating code worthy of their comprehension; and to themselves, by doing work worthy of their potential."
The Master said: "If you cannot explain the potential harms of your system as clearly as its benefits, you do not understand it well enough to build it."
The Master said: "The mark of professional maturity is the ability to work with full engagement on a decision you disagreed with."
The Master said: "Legacy code is not a burden; it is a testament to success. It has survived, served users, and generated value. Approach it with respect, not contempt."