I came across this the other day, and since it pre-dates the Ironman competition, I wanted to pass it on. Dave Rolsky came up with some interesting comments about software and the documentation process.
You know how it has been said that a good way to judge the quality of your writing is to read it aloud? Dave points out that the same thing applies for your code. When you force yourself to describe how your system / code works, you will notice inconsistencies and problems that you otherwise might not notice.
I have found this to be very true and the first commenter has a point as well. When I am designing new software from scratch, I always start with a legal pad and a nice free-flowing pen, and draw diagrams and write down ideas for how the different pieces fit together. I find that while I can write code without this step, the code I produce having done this is far superior in quality and cohesiveness.
Thanks Dave, for sharing that wisdom.
Definitely. This lends itself to multiple code reviews, in which you are forced to justify why you did "X" instead of "Y".
Life lesson kids, when you're parents ask you why you want to be a computer programmer when you grow up, and where exactly you want to work, there's a reason for it :-)