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When Making a Comprehensive Retrofit of your Code...

Posted by Cliff on from the things-you-do-when-you-rewrite-everything dept.

chizor asks: "My programming team is considering making some sweeping changes to our code base (150+ perl CGIs, over a meg of code) in the interest of consistency and reducing redundancy. We're going to have to make some hard decisions about code style. What suggestions might readers have about tackling a large-scale retrofit?" Once the decision has been made for a sweeping rewrite of a project, what can you do to make sure things go smoothly and you don't run into any development snags...especially as things progress in the development cycle?

6 of 385 comments (clear)

  1. Listen To The Experts by ChuckPollock · · Score: 3, Funny

    The First Rule of Program Optimization: Don't do it. The Second Rule of Program Optimization (for experts only!): Don't do it yet. -- Michael Jackson

  2. Re:Extremem Programming - Refactor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Do 'Extreme Programming' principles dictate that I get an afro perm and adorn my body with piercings and generic "tribal" tattoos? I can't even spell snowboard. Oh my...

  3. Re:Extremem Programming - Refactor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Do 'Extreme Programming' principles dictate that I get an afro perm and adorn my body with piercings and generic "tribal" tattoos?

    First time I heard the term, I asked the guy "Is that where you jump out of an airplane with a parachute and a laptop?"

  4. Re:Sleeping dogs by bbqdeath · · Score: 5, Funny

    I second the concern about PERL. And I offer my advice as someone who has virtually no qualifications to talk about large systems of code. I just like Python better than PERL because it doesn't hurt my eyeballs like PERL.

    Yeah, I guess this is a troll. But it's honest. I use Python like most people use toilet paper: several times a day, and for more things than it was originally intended.

  5. Re:Solicited suggestion by m_ilya · · Score: 2, Funny
    Where possible, use Python or Java instead PERL.

    Indead. I'd like to extend this advice:

    • Where possible, use Perl instead of PERL.
    --

    --
    Ilya Martynov (http://martynov.org/)

  6. Re:Unexploded bombs, not sleeping dogs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    My favorite comment to see in the code "This is a bit of a hack"