> Why does bad code bother engineers so much?

Others have said some true things but the core is missed. It bothers engineers who care about mastery. It’s the same for architects who see design flaws in buildings that were done by those who don’t care about mastery. Or a filmmaker who watches a movie with lots of flaws. Caring about obtaining mastery means having the capability of seeing the flaws and resolving them.

It could be maturity to resign to powerless forces or it could be the inability to obtain that mastery or the willingness to let go of that mastery. I would think it’s more mature to fight the good fight, but at some point you just get old and tired I imagine. And it’s interesting to posit the author is nihilistic when this “uncontrollable forces” itself is a nihilistic take imho.