This list is inevitable I think for anyone who is trying to ship or has some sort of deadline. The most important thing I find in maintaining large code bases is to vigilantly keep the broken window theory in mind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory). It takes some discipline to actually go back and fix things that are broken, but it does help to avoid longer term software rot.

No codebase is perfect at any single given point in time, but when you see a broken window, fix it.

http://pragprog.com/the-pragmatic-programmer/extracts/softwa...