As a software product ages it will grow. The growth is either in features or perhaps only in amount of code. The very best developers increase the clarity of the code. The worst developers create a tangle of code.

It is better to build, to write with a longer view. Understand that you may not have the chance to come back to this code, to this problem before the whole structure collapses. With that collapse you will be sent back to wild world of recruiters and hiring managers.

A lush garden or a fetid swamp? Stay on path and enjoy the tea of the garden.