Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite • Hacker News Board

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#41

Post by garbagecoder » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 2:36 AM UTC

He’s probably right?? but brittle’s inevitable with something like that. If his plan is to just min FTEs, I bet it does need a rewrite. But it will still be brittle. If this brings value to shareholders, somehow, then don’t hate the player hate the game.

I think Elmo is more or less sociopathic at this point, but I think he’s more correct about Twitter than people think, just not in the way people think. I think it can be profitable still. He’ll overcome his brand damage eventually.

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#42

Post by wallace_g » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 2:49 AM UTC

[dead]

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#43

Post by object-a » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 2:53 AM UTC

loandbehold wrote: post #25

adt wrote: post #10

23 years ago... https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-...

Browser is lot more complex than Twitter.

I am extremely skeptical that Netscape 4 is a lot more complex than modern day Twitter.

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#44

Post by object-a » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 2:57 AM UTC

ojkelly wrote: post #38

bmitc wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've done it myself several times, but of course on projects small enough for a single developer. I also think the approach of rewriting bits and pieces over time works. You can identify pieces of the old code base that has well-defined behavior and can be split off with a well-defined interface between the new and old code. This has the added benefit of both needing to understand the old codebase and what you'd idea…

This is one of the foundational concepts behind microservices. A service small enough that a team or engineer can rewrite it in a cycle/sprint. When it’s bigger than that, you have the compounding effects of other systems that interact with each other.

For microservices, the "rewrite" fallacy usually takes the form of:

"Why are there so many small services running? Surely we can shut down / delete/ merge together a bunch of them to clean things up"

I'm pretty sure Elon has also hit this fallacy during his tenure at Twitter.

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#45

Post by bmitc » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 5:41 AM UTC

drks91 wrote: post #24

bmitc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be a legitimate strategy. Hard rules in software rarely work.

Any successful example?

As a second thought, I think the move from .NET Framework to .NET 5+ could be considered a rewrite, and that has been rather successful on many fronts.

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#46

Post by guax » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 11:24 AM UTC

You could abstract this for any technical area to show how empty of a statement it ends up being. Thinking about Teslas:

A small wiring change had massive ramifications. The car construction is extremely brittle for no good reason.

Will ultimately need a complete redesign.

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#47

Post by rogue7 » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 12:29 PM UTC

drks91 wrote: post #24

bmitc wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It can be a legitimate strategy. Hard rules in software rarely work.

Any successful example?

Facebook has done it with their iOS Messenger app

https://engineering.fb.com/2020/03/02/data-infrastructure/me...

Re: Elon: Code is brittle. Need a complete rewrite

#48

Post by Jcowell » Tue, Mar 07, 2023, 2:20 PM UTC

object-a wrote: post #44

ojkelly wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the foundational concepts behind microservices. A service small enough that a team or engineer can rewrite it in a cycle/sprint. When it’s bigger than that, you have the compounding effects of other systems that interact with each other.

For microservices, the "rewrite" fallacy usually takes the form of: "Why are there so many small services running? Surely we can shut down / delete/ merge together a bunch of them to clean things up" I'm pretty sure Elon has also hit this fallacy during his tenure at Twitter.

> "Why are there so many small services running? Surely we can shut down / delete/ merge together a bunch of them to clean things up"

It’s such a Weird fallacy since I feel like the entire point of Microservces is that there’s an inherit reason they’re microservices in the first place.

If you don’t know why, you investigate why. It feels far easier to make a monolith than a microservice.