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Survey Results

You inherit code in a language you're not familiar. Do you...

Survey period: 23 Jun 2014 to 30 Jun 2014

A hypothetical of 4 choices.

OptionVotes% 
Learn the new language inside and out and get to work38417.49
Learn enough to do what's needed, but no more1,46966.92
Find someone who does know the language and pass it to them1135.15
Rewrite it23210.57



 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question PinPopular
snorkie23-Jun-14 4:29
professionalsnorkie23-Jun-14 4:29 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Andreas Gieriet23-Jun-14 5:19
professionalAndreas Gieriet23-Jun-14 5:19 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
KarstenK24-Jun-14 1:23
mveKarstenK24-Jun-14 1:23 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Jonathan Nethercott23-Jun-14 5:23
professionalJonathan Nethercott23-Jun-14 5:23 
I used to rewrite everything I could. I also used to think that code only gets worse (read: uglier, more complex, less maintainable) over time as bugs were fixed and enhancements added.

But after many years of coding I slowly got better at refactoring and more conscientious when fixing bugs, so that now I really do believe that when I make changes to code I make the code "better" (not just less buggy).

I think any code can be refactored. However if the code has become very large, tightly coupled and complex then it sometimes makes sense to just rewrite it (although it would have to be very bad!). Normally small bits of exceptionally bad code can just be hacked out and rewritten without rewriting everything though.

By the way, I had one guy working for me that had a habit of fixing null reference exceptions by adding a check for null before the failing code. It took a long time to convince him that he should be looking for why the reference was null! I apologise if he is reading this - I won't mention any names! But that is an example of how the quickest fix is almost never the best fix.

GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Ravi Bhavnani23-Jun-14 5:50
professionalRavi Bhavnani23-Jun-14 5:50 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Chris Maunder23-Jun-14 15:39
cofounderChris Maunder23-Jun-14 15:39 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Bassam Abdul-Baki26-Jun-14 5:21
professionalBassam Abdul-Baki26-Jun-14 5:21 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Rob Philpott23-Jun-14 6:33
Rob Philpott23-Jun-14 6:33 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Chris Maunder23-Jun-14 15:38
cofounderChris Maunder23-Jun-14 15:38 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
KarstenK24-Jun-14 1:27
mveKarstenK24-Jun-14 1:27 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
JMK-NI23-Jun-14 7:42
professionalJMK-NI23-Jun-14 7:42 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
CPallini23-Jun-14 21:26
mveCPallini23-Jun-14 21:26 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
KarstenK24-Jun-14 1:19
mveKarstenK24-Jun-14 1:19 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Gary Wheeler24-Jun-14 1:20
Gary Wheeler24-Jun-14 1:20 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Dan Neely24-Jun-14 2:34
Dan Neely24-Jun-14 2:34 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
plaster24-Jun-14 5:55
plaster24-Jun-14 5:55 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Smart K826-Jun-14 3:15
professionalSmart K826-Jun-14 3:15 
GeneralRe: This is actually a trick question Pin
Ian Shlasko27-Jun-14 3:00
Ian Shlasko27-Jun-14 3:00 
Generalif it's Visual Basic I would always re-write it ! :) Pin
BillWoodruff23-Jun-14 3:17
professionalBillWoodruff23-Jun-14 3:17 
GeneralRe: if it's Visual Basic I would always re-write it ! :) Pin
SortaCore23-Jun-14 22:18
SortaCore23-Jun-14 22:18 
GeneralRe: if it's Visual Basic I would always re-write it ! :) Pin
i0024-Jun-14 0:19
i0024-Jun-14 0:19 
GeneralRe: if it's Visual Basic I would always re-write it ! :) Pin
CPallini23-Jun-14 22:37
mveCPallini23-Jun-14 22:37 
GeneralWay too complex a situation to be answered with only a single choice Pin
Dan Neely23-Jun-14 3:10
Dan Neely23-Jun-14 3:10 
GeneralHow much code? Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic23-Jun-14 3:08
Nemanja Trifunovic23-Jun-14 3:08 
GeneralRe: How much code? Pin
Albert Holguin26-Jun-14 4:08
professionalAlbert Holguin26-Jun-14 4:08 

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