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Why we picked it If you only read one piece on this question, make it this one. Caudill studies six real cases (Netscape, Basecamp, VS Code, Gmail, FogBugz to Trello, FreshBooks) and shows the choice is not just rewrite versus refactor. His recurring lesson is to build the new thing next to the old one rather than tearing down what already works and earns.
Rewrite, refactor, or reinvent? Lessons from 6 software rewrite stories
From herbcaudill.com by Herb Caudill 25 min read
- The real options are more than rewrite versus refactor
- Successful rewrites kept the old product running the whole time
- Build the new version alongside the old, do not replace it in one leap
