Explain It To Me Like I'm... Well... Me, But Dumber

Short summary

The author argues against writing clever, undocumented code by sharing a personal anecdote about a coworker whose cryptic style took 6 hours to decipher for a 5-minute fix. Even in the age of AI-assisted coding with tools like Claude, adding context through comments and documentation remains essential because maintenance happens under stress, not at peak performance. The core advice: optimize for the 3 AM version of yourself, not your best self.

• •Clever, undocumented code creates maintenance nightmares when bugs hit at stressful moments
• •AI code generation doesn't eliminate the need for context, comments, and documentation
• •Optimize for the sleep-deprived 3 AM version of yourself, not your peak-performance self

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.