Click here to Skip to main content
15,887,477 members

Survey Results

Are you starting new projects or maintaining tried-and-true legacy apps?

Survey period: 4 Dec 2017 to 11 Dec 2017

Just because it's old it doesn't mean it needs to be rewritten.
OptionVotes% 
New, starting-from-scratch projects54457.02
Reasonably new (< 1 years old) projects38039.83
Recent (1 - 3 year old ) projects44546.65
Established (5 - 10 year old) projects48050.31
Long in the tooth (10 - 15 year old projects)24025.16
Software archaeology (15 - 25 year old code bases)14214.88
Software mythology (code older than 25 years)434.51
I don't code515.35
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%



 
GeneralVB6 Upgrading Next Year Pin
cjb1107-Dec-17 21:57
cjb1107-Dec-17 21:57 
AnswerWhat about those 4 year old projects? Pin
MacSpudster6-Dec-17 8:18
professionalMacSpudster6-Dec-17 8:18 
GeneralRe: What about those 4 year old projects? Pin
den2k886-Dec-17 23:33
professionalden2k886-Dec-17 23:33 
GeneralRe: What about those 4 year old projects? Pin
Eldon E Elledge7-Dec-17 9:15
Eldon E Elledge7-Dec-17 9:15 
GeneralRe: What about those 4 year old projects? Pin
Mohibur Rashid7-Dec-17 20:44
professionalMohibur Rashid7-Dec-17 20:44 
GeneralMythology Pin
RugbyLeague5-Dec-17 22:46
RugbyLeague5-Dec-17 22:46 
GeneralBoth Pin
Dominic Burford5-Dec-17 6:25
professionalDominic Burford5-Dec-17 6:25 
GeneralForget tried-and-true. Missing option: "Maintaining"... Pin
Member 105557355-Dec-17 3:53
Member 105557355-Dec-17 3:53 
GeneralThe value of open source libraries Pin
kalberts5-Dec-17 0:30
kalberts5-Dec-17 0:30 
GeneralWhat's new under the sun? Pin
kalberts5-Dec-17 0:27
kalberts5-Dec-17 0:27 
When I had my first Systems Engineering course in 1980-81, the professor claimed that the average life time for a commercial software system was around 20 years, after the first official release. (Note that going 20 years back from 1980-81 brings us to 1960-61.)

He also claimed that when the first release is made, around 10% of the total resources spent on the system had been consumed, at most 15%. 85-90% of the cost is later maintenance, extensions, making the system cooperate with other systems etc. (So, the moral is: Make a good design from the beginning - it pays in the long run.)

His third claim: You can make a isolated program at a cost of 1 unit. Make it a product, with documentation, training, marketing, ... and your cost raises to 3 units. Or, you make a program component, that interfaces to other program components in a larger software system; that will also raise the cost of your program to 3 units. If you do both, your program is made as a program component product, the development cost will be 9 units - or, for simpler estimates, round it off to 10. So your demo prototype, even when functionally complete but not yet a product, not yet integrated as a component in a software system, has seen one tenth of its total cost before the first release. And a single percent of its lifetime cost. Even though it is a fully functional program.

None of the students believed what the professor said. Today, I am 100% certain that he was right, on all three accounts. Maybe even more so today than in 1981.
Generaltried-and-true legacy apps.... Pin
nurphs4-Dec-17 23:52
nurphs4-Dec-17 23:52 
GeneralHeck... Pin
Nelek4-Dec-17 12:44
protectorNelek4-Dec-17 12:44 
GeneralArcheology.... Pin
Maximilien4-Dec-17 5:36
Maximilien4-Dec-17 5:36 
GeneralNew Projects Pin
kmoorevs4-Dec-17 4:11
kmoorevs4-Dec-17 4:11 
GeneralI Came . . . I Saw, . . . Pin
W Balboos, GHB4-Dec-17 1:24
W Balboos, GHB4-Dec-17 1:24 
GeneralRe: I Came . . . I Saw, . . . Pin
den2k884-Dec-17 2:08
professionalden2k884-Dec-17 2:08 
GeneralArchaeologist and innovator Pin
den2k883-Dec-17 22:32
professionalden2k883-Dec-17 22:32 
GeneralRe: Archaeologist and innovator Pin
Kaladin4-Dec-17 4:57
Kaladin4-Dec-17 4:57 
GeneralRe: Archaeologist and innovator Pin
den2k884-Dec-17 5:20
professionalden2k884-Dec-17 5:20 
GeneralRe: Archaeologist and innovator Pin
Foothill5-Dec-17 3:18
professionalFoothill5-Dec-17 3:18 
GeneralRe: Archaeologist and innovator Pin
Member 105557355-Dec-17 3:59
Member 105557355-Dec-17 3:59 
GeneralA lot I guess... Pin
Sander Rossel3-Dec-17 20:44
professionalSander Rossel3-Dec-17 20:44 
GeneralRe: A lot I guess... Pin
PeejayAdams3-Dec-17 23:27
PeejayAdams3-Dec-17 23:27 
GeneralRe: A lot I guess... Pin
RickZeeland4-Dec-17 6:13
mveRickZeeland4-Dec-17 6:13 
GeneralRe: A lot I guess... Pin
Sander Rossel5-Dec-17 7:36
professionalSander Rossel5-Dec-17 7:36 

General General    News News    Suggestion Suggestion    Question Question    Bug Bug    Answer Answer    Joke Joke    Praise Praise    Rant Rant    Admin Admin   

Use Ctrl+Left/Right to switch messages, Ctrl+Up/Down to switch threads, Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right to switch pages.