Re^4: Keeping, and advancing in, your job

[bwelch]

Sheesh. I didn't say it was easy, I only stated what works and was most efficient for me. It's easier and safer than trying to modify someone's code without comments, strict, or knowing what the changes might affect.

Most developers here use modules and break up functionality decently even if they don't use strict. It makes sense. Break up large code into modules for easier testing, updates, and re-use. No, there's no need to rewrite it. And yes, adopting a system means using existing or writing test suites. Of course, the two printers next to my cube don't make it very quiet.

[dragonchild]

Rewriting when you are assigned to a new script is one thing. Rewriting when you are assigned to a million-line application is another, especially if that application (like most applications) doesn't have a comprehensive test suite.

In addition, any change, no matter how small, has a certain risk associated with it. Larger changes have larger risks. A risk has a very clear dollar figure associated with it. It may be appropriate to leave an application in a crufty state, because of the dollar figures associated with changing it and not changing it. I work on an application that has that exact situation. It's crufty, horrible, and needs a complete rewrite. Except, that rewrite is being done by another group and I just need to keep it limping along for another year. It's one of my many tasks; I might spend 20 hours a month on it. Yes, I could rewrite it in that time, but that is wasted effort becaue the benefits to rewriting it are only gained by amortization - you spend $100 now to save $50/year over 5 years. You are still in the hole for two years and if you expect to turn the application off in a year, is it still worth it to rewrite?

[bwelch]

There's the difference. Given a thousand line script, I'd easily clean it up and make it work properly betting on the time saved in maintaining it. For ten-thousand line scripts, I'd question the source for having one script that long and be more hesitant to maintain it. Is that really a small script with many modules? That might be okay to maintain or it might be trouble.

A million line system and one person maintaining it? That sounds like a job (or a nightmare) all by itself. Are there many independent modules that don't need to be changed? At best, that would be difficult.