Not a software engineer, but a software cook

Even the best teams will have cruft in their software. The difference is that the best teams both create much less cruft but also remove enough of the cruft they do create that they can continue to add features quickly. [...] A common metaphor is that it's like cleaning up work surfaces and equipment in the kitchen. You can't not make things dirty when you cook, but if you don't clean things quickly, muck dries up, is harder to remove, and all the dirty stuff gets in the way of cooking the next dish.

Martin Fowler, in Is High Quality Software Worth the Cost?.