The Cost of “Quick Fixes” in Codebases

Have you ever opened an old project and thought, “Why on earth was this done like this?”

And then… a few minutes later… realized you were the one who wrote it?

I ran into this while digging through an old Node.js app. One small bug led to another, and suddenly I was tracing through layers of “quick fixes”.. little patches that made sense in the moment but now feel like a house of cards.

It got me thinking... Adding a quick fix just to move on, knowing it wasn’t the “right” solution?

We all do it, right? Deadlines are tight, specs aren’t clear, and you just need things to work. But then…

What would you do if that same fix came back six months later as a critical bug?

Would you even remember why it was written that way?

Sometimes I feel like these fixes aren’t really about code.. they’re about pressure. Ship now. Clean later. Except…

When was the last time “later” actually happened?

And here’s another one: Do you think quick fixes are always bad, or do they have a place if used carefully?

Lately I’ve been trying to catch myself in that moment.. when a “5-minute fix” starts turning into something messier.

Do you stop and rethink at that point, or just push through and hope for the best?

I’ve started asking myself: “Would I understand this in 3 months?” If the answer is no, I try (try being the key word) to slow down a bit.

How do you feel about that approach? Too idealistic, or actually practical?