Research code is infinitely better than no code. Research papers are almost never complete enough to reimplement it (seriously - I met a lot of academicians doing it, and most of the time it was not possible without contacting authors; just - text does not compile).

Vide:

http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/23237/why-are-pa...

http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/37370/should-i-s...

(A similar things holds for data as well.)