The topic of your rant is something that it took me forever to accept as a software engineer. Nobody cares about quality.
Your method is refactored to be super-fast and have no branches? Nobody cares.
Elegant, re-usable architecture? Nobody cares.
You've optimized an inner loop in assembly and increased speed by 30%? Nobody cares.
Made it to zero compiler warnings? Nobody cares.
No known crashers left in the bug tracker? Nobody cares.
Fixed that bug that's been in the code for two years? Nobody cares.
Patched a security hole that could allow a crazy bad attack? Nobody cares.
The vast majority of software shops out there care only that something--anything--ships as fast as remotely possible, and as long as it does not kill the customer, it's a success. Nobody in leadership gives a single fuck about anything else. There are a few places where this is not true, and good software people tend to collect there, but it's true for the vast majority of places where you will work. The sooner you accept this, the less likely you'll burn out.
Your method is refactored to be super-fast and have no branches? Nobody cares.
Elegant, re-usable architecture? Nobody cares.
You've optimized an inner loop in assembly and increased speed by 30%? Nobody cares.
Made it to zero compiler warnings? Nobody cares.
No known crashers left in the bug tracker? Nobody cares.
Fixed that bug that's been in the code for two years? Nobody cares.
Patched a security hole that could allow a crazy bad attack? Nobody cares.
The vast majority of software shops out there care only that something--anything--ships as fast as remotely possible, and as long as it does not kill the customer, it's a success. Nobody in leadership gives a single fuck about anything else. There are a few places where this is not true, and good software people tend to collect there, but it's true for the vast majority of places where you will work. The sooner you accept this, the less likely you'll burn out.