The Code You Cannot Remember Why It Works

🧠 DEV MOTIVATION — August 3, 2026

The Code You Cannot Remember Why It Works

We have all been there. You open a file you wrote 6 months ago, stare at a bizarre workaround, and think... Who wrote this garbage?

Then you check git blame. It is you. 😅

Here is the truth: that weird hack probably solved a genuinely tricky edge case. The problem is not that the code is bad — it is that the context is gone.

What to do about it:

• Write commit messages that explain the why, not just the what


• Drop comments on non-obvious decisions — treat them as time capsules for your future self


• Before refactoring legacy code, ask What problem was this solving? instead of This is wrong

Your code does not need to be perfect today. It just needs to be understandable tomorrow.

Code is what the machine reads. Comments are what your future self reads. Write for both.