Some time ago, I ran across this lengthy humor article on how to write unmaintainable code.

Look at this gem:

Capitalisation
 
 Randomly capitalize the first letter of a syllable in the middle of a word. For example ComputeRasterHistoGram().
 

How many times did you see this CamelCase notation in code on Words? Too many times!

The idea here is that the more cryptic, obscure and obfuscated your code is, the more secure your job is, because no one else knows your code.

In reality, maintainable code is essential for your own sanity. Most code changes over time due to bug fixes and new requirements. Revisiting code that you have written months or years ago is often like looking at new code: if it is clear, you can go ahead and understand (or  re-understand) and maintain it. If it is cryptic, you suffer!

This article was on Slashdotlast week, with some interesting comments. 

On the contrary, you can see real life programming bloopers in another article that I have written. 

Resources

• How to write unmaintainable code.
• Slashdot discussion.