Never Rewrite
Isaac Askew and Jeffrey Sherman
‘Never Rewrite’ is a mantra of ours in the programming realm. Often times when software developers encounter nightmare codebases, the thought crosses their mind to work towards a rewrite, a port to a new language, or despair that their code is unfixable.
It’s not unfixable, and we explore how to get started along with an array of other software topics in our eponymous podcast.
It’s not unfixable, and we explore how to get started along with an array of other software topics in our eponymous podcast.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 15, 2023 • 18min
Episode 32: Getting Started with Brownfield Testing (Part 2)
Isaac and Jeffrey continue discussions around testing brownfield code, delving deeper into next steps and refactoring.Our ‘FlowSheet’ guide to help you with your testing and refactoring decisions: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/64127dab7e53173c1e7c39a1/9d699636-4625-4fc3-862c-a66907fd47dc/Getting+Started+With+Brownfield+Code.png?format=2500w
Dec 8, 2023 • 15min
Episode 31: Getting Started with Brownfield Testing (Part 1)
Brownfield code is existing code (rather than new code) that you might need to add tests for. Join us for a two-part episode on how to get started testing and refactoring existing applications.
Dec 1, 2023 • 29min
Episode 30: Investing in Yourself Beyond Education
Isaac and Jeffrey discuss ways to improve yourself outside of traditional means like college, courses, or reading.
Nov 24, 2023 • 8min
Episode 29: (F*ck-Up Friday Series) The Saleswoman Who Faked Cancer
A non technical story of deception, good deeds with terrible consequences, and weak HR.
Nov 16, 2023 • 13min
Episode 28: Making Non-Compatible Changes During Long-Running Upgrades
Sometimes an upgrade to a new version of a framework takes weeks or even months. What do you do when you need to make changes to areas that are being affected by the upgrade?
Nov 9, 2023 • 40min
Episode 27: The Ticket Master - Computerizing India’s Railways with Aadil Farid, Part 2
Special Guest Aadil Farid joins us again to continue his discussion on the harsh realities he confronted when he led a team that computerized ticketing on India’s Railways in the 1980s.
Nov 3, 2023 • 27min
Episode 26: The Ticket Master - Computerizing India’s Railways with Aadil Farid, Part 1
Special Guest Aadil Farid joins us to discuss the harsh realities he confronted when he led a team that computerized ticketing on India’s Railways in the 1980s.
Oct 26, 2023 • 37min
Episode 25: A Rewrite Success Story with Brian Genisio from Khan Academy
Special guest Brian Genisio from Khan Academy joins us to talk about their 3.5 year rewrite that successfully wrapped up this year. Learn how Brian’s team was able to achieve the nearly impossible act of successfully completing a rewrite using many of the techniques we’ve talked about in the past, plus some brand new ones! If you want to learn about what it takes to do a rewrite, buckle up!
Oct 20, 2023 • 20min
Episode 24: When AI Writes Your Documentation
AI tools can now write your incident retrospectives. Do developers lose by not formalizing their thoughts by writing? In this episode Isaac and Jeffrey weigh the pros and cons of having AI write incident retrospectives and documentation.
Sep 22, 2023 • 35min
Episode 23: Live Workshop with Rob Gonnella
Senior DevOps Engineer Rob Gonnella joins us to discuss the implications and risks of rewriting infrastructure. They explore the difference between rewrite and iterative delivery, scaling challenges, rewriting the data model, transitioning to a new system, and the process of rewriting a complex data model.
