Programming

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Is it better to start from scratch rather than refactoring? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org to c/programming

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Refactoring gets really bad reviews, but from where I'm sitting as a hobby programmer in relative ignorance it seems like it should be easier, because you could potentially reuse a lot of code. Can someone break it down for me?

I'm thinking of a situation where the code is ugly but still legible here. I completely understand that actual reverse engineering is harder than coding on a blank slate.

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[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 month ago

Refactoring is always easier.

Both methods really need acceptance tests before you can start, but with refactoring you at least have a working system for the duration of development.