From Spaghetti Code to Scalable Systems: Why I Teach Developers to Build It the Right Way

[BillMartin]

Author: Bill Martin
ServiceNow Architect | Software Engineer | Educator | 25+ Years in Tech

A story from the trenches...

Years ago, I was handed a legacy ServiceNow instance that had grown out of control. Hundreds of Business Rules fired unpredictably. Script Includes were tangled. Performance was inconsistent. Nobody wanted to touch the code — not even the person who wrote it.

Sound familiar?

That’s when I realized: the problem wasn’t just the code. It was the mindset behind it.
People were scripting to make it work, not to build it right.

I’ve spent the last two decades doing it differently.

As a Software Engineer, then later a Software Architect, and now an Enterprise Architect, I’ve seen both sides — the rushed fixes that haunt you months later, and the thoughtfully designed systems that stand strong through change.

In large-scale implementations — from banks and insurance giants to national telecoms — I've learned that scripting isn’t just about GlideRecord or GlideAjax. It's about architecture, design thinking, and intentional craftsmanship.

So I created something for every developer who’s ever felt stuck in messy code.

It's called:

Build It the Right Way: Complete ServiceNow Scripting 

This isn’t just another tutorial series. It’s a journey.
A journey where I take everything I’ve learned in 25 years of engineering and boil it down into weeks of clear, real-world training.

What you’ll learn:

How to use GlideRecord responsibly — and readably
How to build reusable Script Includes with object-oriented patterns
Why dependency injection matters — and how to do it in ServiceNow
How to architect your code using the Repository pattern
How to use GlideAjax the right way between client and server
How to build REST APIs, log with structure, and design for async

And most importantly:
How to stop firefighting and start designing

Watch the first video here:

Let’s raise the bar together.

To every ServiceNow developer who’s ever inherited a mess, struggled with GlideRecord queries, or wondered how the pros think — this series is for you.

Let’s stop just making it work.
Let’s build it the right way.