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What Happens To Code From Failed Projects?

Posted by Soulskill on from the great-compiler-in-the-sky dept.

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?"

23 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Code Heaven by Gerafix · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    1. Re:Code Heaven by nx6310 · · Score: 4, Funny

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

    2. Re:Code Heaven by TheSpoom · · Score: 4, Funny

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

      --
      It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
      - E. Debs
    3. Re:Code Heaven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      They get there via bit bucket.

    4. Re:Code Heaven by Valtor · · Score: 2, Funny

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

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

      --
      "Sockets are the standard networking API, also useful for stopping your eyes from falling onto your cheeks" zeromq.org
    5. Re:Code Heaven by William-Ely · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought it went to the island of misfit code.

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  2. we do. by Samschnooks · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...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!

    1. Re:we do. by biocute · · Score: 3, Funny

      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.

      --
      Virtual Betting on Facebook for non-geeks.
  3. Depends by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    --
    Summation 2
    1. Re:Depends by Geak · · Score: 2, Funny

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

  4. No one can really know for sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
     

    1. Re:No one can really know for sure by torstenvl · · Score: 5, Funny

      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 */
      }

    2. Re:No one can really know for sure by SQLGuru · · Score: 3, Funny

      -Lee

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

    3. Re:No one can really know for sure by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 2, Funny

      You just haven't waited long enough.

      --
      Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
    4. Re:No one can really know for sure by mebrahim · · Score: 2, Funny

      Best wishes ... I mean -funroll-loops

      --
      Persian Project Management Software as a Service
  5. Yucca Mountains by amori · · Score: 2, Funny

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

  6. Apologies to Langston Hughes by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 2, Funny

    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?

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
  7. I know this one! by xactuary · · Score: 5, Funny

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

    --
    Say hello to my little sig.
  8. Re:I know ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

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

  9. Re:Code is Cheap by FrozenGeek · · Score: 2, Funny

    I sure have a lot of experience.

    --
    linquendum tondere
  10. Remember netscape, by nitsnipe · · Score: 2, Funny

    It becomes firefox.

  11. Re: by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

  12. Re:Code is Cheap by Raenex · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.