This link has been bookmarked by 12 people . It was first bookmarked on 22 Sep 2006, by Joel Liu.
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27 Jul 09
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5x more time spent modifying code than writing new code
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New code becomes old code almost instantly
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Only the coding in the first iteration qualifies as all new code. After the
first iteration coding quickly shifts to be more and more modifying rather than
new coding. -
our stabilization (aka bug fixing) milestones are as long as our new feature
milestones -
Modifying code consumes much more of a professional developer's time than
writing new code -
3x more time spend understanding code than modifying code
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you must understand the behavior of the code so that you can guarantee that the
refactoring didn't change anything unintended -
Understanding code is by far the activity at which professional developers
spend most of their time. -
I think the way most developers "understand" code is to rewrite it
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very few developers are smart enough to understand code without rewriting
it. -
Nobody wants developers to reinvent the wheel (again), but reading about how a
wheel works is a poor substitute for the experience of driving around on a few
wheels of your own creation -
If someone were to read the source code, do you think they could learn how to
play [Monopoly]?" -
I was still re-learning what the code did. Sometimes by reading carefuly the
code, and sometimes by observing the functionality. But I think I would have to
agree with Joel, I've never "rewritten" a mature program, something with lots of
bug fixes from lots of people. You have to really understand the code and what
the strange bug fixes are in order to think about how you can rework the code to
include those fixes logically, rather than attatched on the end. And if you
can't work that out, then I guess it's probably best to leave it.
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07 Aug 07
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25 Jun 07
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What I cannot create, I do not understand.
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If you want to know how the application really works, observe carefully how users use it. Then go write your own version.
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25 Mar 07
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24 Mar 07
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02 Oct 06
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24 Sep 06
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22 Sep 06
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