I Used to Script Just to Make It Work — Until It Broke Everything

[BillMartin]

I still remember the day I opened a ServiceNow instance and stared at a Business Rule that didn’t make sense.

It wasn’t just confusing — it was scary.

Variables with random names.

Copy-pasted logic from Stack Overflow.

Dozens of similar rules, all running at once.

And nobody could tell me which one actually did the job. Not even the original developer.

At the time, I was still new to ServiceNow. I knew how to write code, but I didn’t know how to write it right.

So I did what most of us do: I made it work.

Quick fixes. Inline GlideRecords. If-statements galore.

It got the job done.

Until the next person inherited it — and cursed my name.

I knew there had to be a better way.

Before ServiceNow, I spent years in software engineering — designing systems, building products, leading teams.

I’d learned how to think like an architect:

Modular code. Clean logic. Separation of concerns.

But for some reason, when I got to ServiceNow, I forgot all of that.
I was so focused on meeting business needs that I started scripting in survival mode.

One day, I sat back and asked myself:
“What if I built my ServiceNow code like I built everything else — with real architecture?”

That was the turning point.

I started rebuilding my scripts with intention.
Creating helper classes instead of writing the same logic twice.
Using object-oriented Script Includes instead of procedural hacks.
Centralizing logging with a BaseLogger.
Separating client-server logic using GlideAjax properly.
Handling async tasks with Events, Script Actions, and Scheduled Jobs.
Designing for future developers, not just myself.

And you know what happened?

My code didn’t just work. It lasted.

It scaled across teams.
It handled integrations gracefully.

And when it failed — it failed predictably and was easy to fix.

That’s when I realized: this mindset needs to be shared.

So I took everything I learned over 25 years as a Software Engineer, Software Architect, and Enterprise Architect — and turned it into a course I wish existed when I was starting out.

It’s called Build It the Right Way: Complete ServiceNow Scripting and Development Course.

Not just “how to write a Business Rule,” but how to design your scripting approach like a real engineer — one who thinks about maintainability, clarity, and performance.

Want to join the journey?

Start with the playlist series here :

If you’ve ever felt stuck writing scripts that just barely work — you’re not alone.

But you don’t have to stay there.

We can do better.
We can build it cleaner.
We can build it the right way.