HATE YOURSELF LESS WHILE REFACTORING
Ah, the sweet nostalgia of stumbling upon a project you wrote five years ago—back when you thought using global variables was clever and comments were optional. Now, it’s 90% done, and every line is a masterpiece of regret. Do you rewrite it? Or do you continue slogging through this dumpster fire of your own creation? Let’s explore your delightful options.
The Seductive Allure of Starting Over
Who doesn’t dream of scrapping everything and starting fresh? It’s the coder’s version of sweeping the chessboard when you’re losing. Here’s why rewriting feels like the greatest idea since untested hotfixes:
1. Show Off Your Current Brilliance
Oh, you’re so much smarter now. Look at you, with your fancy design patterns and frameworks. Surely, you’ll do it right this time—just like last time.
2. Kill the Beast
That technical debt isn’t just a debt; it’s a mortgage on a condemned house. Sure, you could refactor, but wouldn’t it feel better to bulldoze the whole thing and pretend it never existed?
3. Infinite Planning Possibilities
Why finish something that’s almost done when you can spend months architecting the perfect system that might exist someday? It’s like quitting a marathon at mile 25 to design better running shoes.
4. Reclaim Your Dignity
Nothing screams “I’ve grown as a developer” like annihilating every trace of your past work. Rewrite it, and you’ll never have to explain to your team why your variables are named tempThingy2.
Why Torture Yourself by Refactoring?
But wait—maybe you’re feeling masochistic. Why not stick with the codebase you hate and try to “improve” it? After all, what’s a few more nights spent crying over spaghetti code?
1. Ship It Faster!
Just 10% to go! That’s what you told yourself six months ago. Clearly, a few more weeks of patching together this Frankenstein will finally get it to production. What could go wrong?
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2. It Works… Sort Of
Sure, the code is ugly. Sure, it occasionally crashes when someone blinks too fast. But it’s functional. Why fix what’s not completely broken?
3. Embrace the Chaos
There’s no better way to sharpen your problem-solving skills than spending hours figuring out why methodDoSomething() does everything except what it’s supposed to. Think of it as a puzzle—just one with missing pieces and no solution.
4. Who Needs Joy Anyway?
You don’t have time to enjoy coding. This is your penance for whatever sins you committed when you wrote this monstrosity. Buckle up, champ.
The Glorious Compromise: Half-Rewriting, Half-Suffering
For those who want the worst of both worlds, there’s always strategic refactoring. Here’s the genius plan: fix the worst parts, rewrite some bits, and enjoy the never-ending limbo of half-finished work.
Ask Yourself These Deeply Depressing Questions
When deciding whether to rewrite or refactor, ponder these existential dilemmas:
The Takeaway (If You Can Call It That)
Rewriting is a bold statement: “I’ve learned so much, I’d rather spend months redoing everything than admit this is okay.” Refactoring is the pragmatic choice, but who wants to be pragmatic? Life’s too short for bad code, but also too short to rewrite all the bad code.
In the end, the real solution is obvious: outsource the whole thing to someone else, preferably someone who won’t judge your past self. After all, isn’t that what junior developers are for?
With this post, I’m kicking off a conversation to tackle this dilemma together—because let’s face it, if I’m dealing with this, chances are you are too, my dear fellow sufferer. Share your thoughts in the comments; misery loves company, and who knows, we might even figure out a solution!