> it's substantially more work to clean and organize the code for publishing
Regardless of whether or not you release the code, you should do this.
It’s so common for people to think that cleaning/refactoring/documenting code is a waste of time, but it’s exactly the opposite.
The point at which the code is working, but not yet polished is exactly the prime “teachable moment” for improving your skills as a programmer and for refining your knowledge of the domain the program solves for. (This is true no matter how skilled or knowledgeable you already are).
Your brain is perfectly primed to do this now, so don’t let that go to waste.
Regardless of whether or not you release the code, you should do this.
It’s so common for people to think that cleaning/refactoring/documenting code is a waste of time, but it’s exactly the opposite.
The point at which the code is working, but not yet polished is exactly the prime “teachable moment” for improving your skills as a programmer and for refining your knowledge of the domain the program solves for. (This is true no matter how skilled or knowledgeable you already are).
Your brain is perfectly primed to do this now, so don’t let that go to waste.