Lately, I have been working with a few big and small web companies on Drupal-based projects. Whether it's for project analysis, training, debugging or performance, I often have to jump into other people's code which was rushed into production on short deadlines, as I have also received a lot of feedback.
Here are a few simple tips for beginner Drupal module developers who are in a rush and will very likely need to cut corners by lack of budget or time, but who must at least make sure that the next person will not panic when reading their code.
Sidenote: while a good project manager is essential in facilitating the whole process, they usually focus on facilitating (or moderating) the communication between parties (and taking care of paperwork, such as finalizing the contract and billing). Developers must also bear the responsibility of "delivering a project on time, on budget and with acceptable quality". (or am I making up excuses to justify cut corners? ;-)