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> Chrome is in maintenance. Unfortunately this is not good example, because Chrome undergoes continuous refactoring and is always adding new web features. Even
by titzer 4y ago
> Chrome is in maintenance.
Unfortunately this is not good example, because Chrome undergoes continuous refactoring and is always adding new web features. Even V8, which I worked on for almost 7 years, is definitely not in "maintanence", as JS changed radically in that time and we added the Wasm engine subcomponents.
I kind of agree with your other points, but this is really a spectrum. For example, a 115 year old house is in "maintenance mode", yet it needs new insulation, wiring, upgrading the heating/cooling, interior redesign, floors, windows, etc.
The truth is that most long-living systems are composed of many different subsystems which run the spectrum from "install once, fix it when it breaks" to constantly being rejiggered.
- spfzero 4y agoBut I would say, continuous refactoring is maintenance. You would not need to do it unless there was technical debt that had not been addressed in a timely manner. And when you are forced to do development because your underlying platform, i.e. javascript, changes, that's maintenance. You're not adding anything, you're just adapting. Though I concede that to the extent that the JS changes allow new capabilities and you engineer them in, that's a gray area.