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Ok, but, the average startup web dev stays at a company for like two years? And then the thing eventually gets rewritten anyway in the latest flavor of the week
by overgard 8y ago
Ok, but, the average startup web dev stays at a company for like two years? And then the thing eventually gets rewritten anyway in the latest flavor of the week, because nobody is using the same tools as two years ago.
I guess the concern for longevity most devs have is amusing when most software, if its not like systems level stuff, or problems most devs dont want to solve, tends to get disposed pretty frequently.
By the way, most of the software that actually sticks around was written in C and generally solves a problem most people wont tackle. Like zlib or sqlite or nginx or the linux kernel. You can almost pretty much judge the longevity of a piece of software based on how hard the problem it tackles is. Like encryption or compression? Those libraries are going to be around forever, because how many coders do you know that can write a semi compitent encryption library? And how manu coders can write a templating engine?
Like most of web dev is throwaway code. It just is. Arguments based on like "will they be able to restyle it in 10 years?" Well are they even going to be around?
- antoineMoPa 8y agoI agree, but it is not really an excuse to write bad code.
- overgard 8y agoAbsolutely. But im not sure "bad code" is the same thing as code written for a purpose at a particular time. I think something can be good code if its lifespan is understood in the context of the business goals. I just get cynical when I hear people apply these principles to something that may live five years. Not every project is going to be maintained for 30 years
- svnpenn 8y ago> encryption or compression both of these are pretty bad examples, as several modern developments have surfaced in both cases - here are 2 examples - https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Curve25519 https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Curve25519 - https://github.com/google/brotli https://github.com/google/brotli