Maintainable

Mercedes Bernard, Staff Software Engineer at Kit, joins Robby to talk about what it really means to write code that lasts—and who it should be written for.In this episode of Maintainable, Mercedes shares a thoughtful and practical perspective on working with legacy codebases, managing technical debt, and creating a team culture that values maintainability without fear or shame. Her guiding principle? Well-maintained software is friendly software—code that is understandable and approachable, especially for early-career developers.Together, they discuss how to audit and stabilize older systems, avoid full rewrites, and create consistent developer experiences in large applications. Mercedes reflects on her decade in consulting and how that shaped her approach to navigating incomplete documentation, missing historical context, and multiple competing patterns in a codebase. She breaks down different types of technical debt, explains why not all of it is inherently bad, and offers strategies for advocating for main