I've learned to always avoid saying "always"

Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand.

In almost all cases, I’m opposed to setting aside time for refactoring. In my view refactoring is not an activity you set aside time to do. Refactoring is something you do all the time in little bursts.

The biggest issue on software teams is making sure everyone understands what everyone else is doing.

Comprehensiveness is the enemy of comprehensibility.

Never in the annals of software engineering was so much owed by so many to so few lines of code

Why is composing symphonies tough? I don't know. It's just very few people in the world can do it well. And I think that's the case with upfront design. It is very hard to do well.