Hacker News Reader

I've been a part of a few successful rewrites, one definitely larger than what Sonos did.

We should let go of some of the JoS dogma. Failed rewrites are the result of mismanagement, not because rewrites are inherently bad.

View on HN

I am sure there are rewrites that were necessary or beneficial. But I think it’s fair to say that usually they are a mistake.

And a lot of “bad code” comes from starting to write clean code and then coming across a variety of assumptions that prove incorrect, and real-world considerations that add complexity.

This kind of implies that a rewrite requires better management than just sticking with the existing codebase. It's still a pretty strong reason not to do a rewrite unless you're 1000% sure the organization can handle it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com