Frequently, code maintenance is assigned to the programmers with the least experience in a language,

And until that dumbest of dumb inequities is addressed, software development will have as much in common with 'the professions' as fly-by-night roofers and itinerant driveway layers.

I started into a long and vociforous rant when it dawned on me that I was repeating myself, albeit in a slightly different context: Code maintenance is often seen as a secondary activity, somehow lesser than 'greenfield' coding. It is not!