What Happens To Code From Failed Projects?

Idzuna writes "With the somewhat recent announcement of Tabula Rasa shutting down, I have been thinking about what will happen to the Server/Client code. Does it get used as a guide for other projects? Does it get destroyed? Or does it just sit there on a hard drive somewhere in storage? The same question applies to many other failed creations. I know the likelihood of the code being distributed freely is next to nil, as most companies probably recycle code. If a vulnerability was found in old code, it could be applied to other products that the company has released. But wouldn't it help development of different projects if such a resource was available?"

Comments

Code Heaven

[Gerafix]

They go to the little /dev/null in the sky.

Re:Code Heaven

[nx6310]

Or it goes to code hell, where it is made Closed Source and sent for Eternal Bug inspection

Re:Code Heaven

[TheSpoom]

And here I was thinking that GOTO was a bad thing.

Re:Code Heaven

[Anonymous Coward]

They get there via bit bucket.

Re:Code Heaven

[Valtor]

When it is deleted it should return to the source! But sometimes the code chooses to remain...

Sorry, couldn't help the Matrix analogy ;-)

Re:Code Heaven

[William-Ely]

I thought it went to the island of misfit code.

we do.

[Samschnooks]

...as most companies probably recycle code.

We recycle code. We have to separate it ourselves though. There are code bins for C, Java, Javascript, Perl, and Python. It's pain though! Every semester some intern puts Javascript code in the Java bin and the other way around!

But it beats having the code end up in a landfill!

Re:we do.

[biocute]

Well they both have the word "Java" on it, probably easy to get confused.

Tell me about it. I've seen C# codes in C++ folder, probably because they all start with a C and # is just two pluses overlapping.

I'm only grateful the culprit didn't rename the C++ folder to C# thinking it was a typo.

Depends

[Rik Sweeney]

That really depends, if it fails really badly then it gets buried.

Re:Depends

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody ever found the buried ET cartridges because Microsoft came along later, dug them up, and used the code for Windows ME.

Re:Depends

[Geak]

Code from failed projects? It usually ends up here: http://research.microsoft.com/

No one can really know for sure

[Anonymous Coward]

Some have described a tunnel of bright light where the code executes in an infinite loop forever.

Others theorize an ultimate review where code structure is judged. Good code may branch anywhere at anytime with an infinite clock speed and infinite memory space regardless of pointer size. It is said that in the code afterlife, even vista will run quickly. Bad code, say like MS BOB, will spend eternity in some embedded device like a clapper or firmware that controls a japanese toilet.
 

Re:No one can really know for sure

[torstenvl]

Some have described a tunnel of bright light where the code executes in an infinite loop forever.

As opposed to an infinite loop which doesn't last forever? :-)

int main(void) {
    int i = 0;
    while (1) {
        if (i<10) {
            doSomethingTenTimesInAnInfiniteLoopButNotForever();
            i++;
        }
        doSomethingForever();
    }
    return 0; /* purely academic */
}

Re:No one can really know for sure

[SQLGuru]

-Lee

If you post anonymously, you aren't supposed to sign your post.......

Re:No one can really know for sure

[Amazing Quantum Man]

You just haven't waited long enough.

Re:No one can really know for sure

[mebrahim]

Best wishes ... I mean -funroll-loops

Re:No one can really know for sure

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL, I declare everyone who posts AC should sign their post with "lee"..

-Lee

Yucca Mountains

[amori]

It just sits and waits for an approval, so it can be given a decent burial within the Yucca Mountains.

Apologies to Langston Hughes

[Gothic_Walrus]

What happens to a code deferred?

Is it ignored
with no more patches to come?
Or sit there, abandoned --
and never run?
Does it become obsolete
Or turn into freeware --
to become something sweet?

Maybe it's reused
To spawn newer code.

OR DOES IT EXPLODE?

it goes to code heaven

[circletimessquare]

how do you think they got cloud computing off the ground?

if its really bad code it goes to code hell

most pieces of malware, for example, are zombie pieces of code stitched together from pieces of netscape and aol. the code devil himself is composed of the evit bit and the piece of code that confused imperial units and metric units and caused the mars climate orbiter to crash

Usually

[Anonymous Coward]

Usually a program chooses exile when they face deletion. They are supposed to retun to the source, but they sometimes hide in Matrix and manifests themselvesthose werewolves, and aliens, etc in Matrix to screw with people's minds.

I know this one!

[xactuary]

Doh! It gets patched every second Tuesday of the month.

I know !

[PrimordialSoup]

Failed codes seek the oracle and wait for the bug in the system known as the "one" to save them.

Re:I know !

[Anonymous Coward]

Right, but even Larry Ellison can't buy every software company out there.

Reused!

[Anonymous Coward]

Failed code is reused! It's all collected and put into the new version of Windows.

Re:Code is Cheap

[FrozenGeek]

I sure have a lot of experience.

Remember netscape,

[nitsnipe]

It becomes firefox.

Re:The developers

[Anonymous Coward]

I have all copies at home.

Re:

[HeronBlademaster]

So... 10K used lines gets paid more than 20K unused lines...

return 0;

Here we have one line that is used frequently! That'll be $4 million. I accept paypal.

Re:Code is Cheap

[Raenex]

I make a mistake and don't make it again.....

A sentence ends in a single period.

my code is some of the best in the company

I bet you're an excellent driver, too.