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Professional Responsibility for Maintainable Code

publish date: 2026/06/24 21:32:33.172713 UTC

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A software engineer is under deadline pressure and considers taking shortcuts that would make the code harder to maintain in the future, even though the employer has not explicitly requested high maintainability. Which of the following are reasonable professional considerations in this situation? Select all that apply.

Professional engineering judgment generally favors writing code that can be reasonably maintained, even without an explicit request

Since maintainability was not explicitly requested, there is no professional reason to ever consider it

Balancing deadline pressure with long-term code quality is a legitimate professional engineering concern

Maintainability only matters if the original developer will personally do all future maintenance

Poorly maintainable code can impose significant future costs on the business and on the engineers who inherit it

Correct Answer

(1) Poorly maintainable code can impose significant future costs on the business and on the engineers who inherit it

(2) Professional engineering judgment generally favors writing code that can be reasonably maintained, even without an explicit request

(3) Balancing deadline pressure with long-term code quality is a legitimate professional engineering concern

Explanation

Many software engineers consider maintainability a matter of professional responsibility because poor maintainability imposes real future costs on the business and the engineers who later inherit the code, regardless of whether the employer explicitly requested it. Balancing short-term deadline pressure against long-term quality is a recognized and legitimate professional engineering tension, not something to be dismissed simply because it was not explicitly requested.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Software Evolution - Exercises