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Rewrites Considered Harmful?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-sometimes-it's-just-plain-fun dept.

ngunton writes "When is "good enough" enough? I wrote this article to take a philosophical look at the tendency for software developers to rewrite new versions of popular tools and standards from scratch rather than work on the existing codebase. This introduces new bugs and abandons all the small fixes and tweaks that made the original version work so well. It also often introduces incompatibilities that break a sometimes huge existing userbase. Examples include IPv4 vs IPv6, Apache, Perl, Embperl, Netscape/Mozilla, HTML and Windows. "

3 of 670 comments (clear)

  1. Damed if you do, damed if you dont. by Kenja · · Score: 5, Funny
    Slashdoter: Why wont Microsoft just drop the Windows code base and start over? There are too many problems to fix.

    Microsoft: Ok, Windows XP and 2003 have a full rewrite of the TCP/IP stack and security system.

    Slashdoter: Why did Microsoft rewrite the core OS? They just introduced more bugs and lost the stability and security fixes from older versions of the OS?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  2. Wow by Boing · · Score: 5, Funny
    That article had about the highest flamebait-to-content ratio I've ever seen on Slashdot (and that's SAYING something).

    This oughtta be good. (puts on asbestos-lined pants)

  3. Rewrite of the article by seanmeister · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Problem: Rewrite Mania
    Waaaaaaa!!

    Case 1: IPv4 vs IPv6
    Waaaaaaa!

    Case 2: Apache 1.x vs Apache 2.x
    Waaaaaaaaaa!

    Case 3: Perl 5.x vs Perl 6
    Waaaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaaaaaa!

    Case 4: Embperl 1.x vs Embperl 2
    Waaaaa!

    Case 5: Netscape 4.x vs Mozilla
    Waaaaaaaaa!

    Case 6: HTML 4 vs XHTML + CSS + XML + XSL + XQuery + XPath + XLink + ...
    XML is hard! My HTML for Dummies book weighs too much! Waaaaaaa!

    Case 7: Windows 2000 vs Windows XP vs Server 2003
    Waaaaaaaa!

    Conclusion: In Defense of "good enough" and simplicity
    Waaaaa waaaaaaaaa!