I was thinking many of the manual changes in step one could have been done through a program or script freeing you to help with phase 2/3. Rewriting without in

I was thinking many of the manual changes in step one could have been done through a program or script freeing you to help with phase 2/3. Rewriting without introducing something new: features, stability, cost reduction, easier to maintain, etc is usually a waste of time but could be a fun if you are using the exercise to learn.