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It rots in the sense that it becomes harder to change (or fix) over time, even if the code stays the same. This happens via loss of institutional knowledge as p
by nbouscal 10y ago
It rots in the sense that it becomes harder to change (or fix) over time, even if the code stays the same. This happens via loss of institutional knowledge as people forget how it works, loss of knowledge of the technologies used as they're replaced, etc. It's not just the complexity. Old code is usually harder to change than new code, even if they're equally complex.
- carsongross 10y agoThat isn't rot. The metaphor doesn't make any sense. Software literally does not change. Except for the occasional cosmic ray, I can think of few things less appropriate to apply the term "rot" to.
- jussaskin 10y agoSoftware doesn't exist in isolation. It interacts with its host OS, shared libraries, other programs, protocols, file formats and external systems. If it can't keep up then it effectively rots even though not a single byte of it has changed.
- beat 10y agoIt's a metaphor, not an equivalence. It doesn't even have to be in the same field, as long as the meaning is conveyed. Bit rot is an excellent metaphor, even though it's nothing like physical rot if you get pedantic about it.
- nbouscal 10y agoYou're the first person I've heard say that the metaphor doesn't make any sense; meanwhile, a lot of people regularly use it, which implies that it makes sense to them. You're welcome to not like the metaphor, but you don't really get to declare that it's objectively wrong… it's a metaphor.