begin quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED] as of Fri, Aug 25, 2006 at 02:34:46AM -0700: [snip] > Badly organized code should be thrown away if it contains > nothing worth finding, understanding, and keeping. In the vast majority > of cases, the difficulty of analyzing the bad code means you shouldn't > even look in it for anything valuable. IMO, this isn't _always_ true. > If the bad code does anything correctly that you need and can't > economically duplicate from scratch you are stuck with at least reading > it.
...and perhaps build up a suite of regression tests... > You may want to get a head start on debugging and verification by > modifying the bad code, but the experience may be a surreal one. > You may need to appreciate and understand the logic and achievements > of a bad programmer without becoming one. "Wow, this *works*?" > If the bad code has inspired a mixture of admiration and horror > among your colleagues, I suggest a bit of caution about throwing > it out. It's still probably trash, but ... Heh. When the New Guy[tm] dismissively sniffs at the old-guy whining about documentation, design, and/or coding standards... hand him The Monster and ask him to fix some trivial bug that will have him tracing through half the code... -- _ |\_ \| -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-lpsg
