No one cares about clever code. Instead, people want code that works. Code that they can read six months down the line. Today we speak with Johnny Winn, who avoids writing clever code by following a clear vision — “Make it work, then make it beautiful, then if you really, really have to, make it fast.”

A Renaissance man, Johnny’s career ranged from cheffing to design before he settled into software engineering. Reflecting his many interests, we spend the first section of the podcast chatting about cooking. Johnny shares his kitchen secrets before seamlessly transitioning into the topic of coding. After touching on why clever code is bad code, we explore the trend of ‘componentizing,’ when your views are taken over by an endless array of components and folders. Like Johanna Larsson, a previous guest, Johnny makes a case for umbrella projects and explains why many of us have been using them incorrectly this whole time.

An enemy of dogma, Johnny emphasizes that teams should use what works best for them, and not what conventional wisdom suggests. Following this, we dive into imposing patterns on our architecture bases, how design patterns serve as communication tools, and why tribal knowledge leads to communication issues. Johnny brings his experience to bear and shares how he structures projects while limiting component creation. Near the end of the episode, Johnny talks about how he learned the cardinal sins of coding before leaving us with his final hot take on living a balanced life. So, tune in for a dynamic conversation where Johnny is as likely to share his smoked pork recipe as he is to deliver key coding insights.

Key Points From This Episode:

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/

Johnny’s Smoked Pork Shoulder Brine Ingredients —

Special Guest: Johnny Winn.