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I came into a project where the last remaining programmer had quit. We had the source code - just one copy on his old machine, no backups. There were some occasional errors which at first appeared to be multi-threading issues, overwriting shared data without locks, that sort of thing.
It was a network DLL, just part of the whole product - but essential. I and another developer went through this code trying to find the error(s). After a while we coined a phrase which we both had uttered several times, "How did this ever work?" After a longer while we realized it couldn't. The source code had been updated several times after the last release - presumably trying to fix these errors. Massive amount of cut and paste (this was effectively before the internet) meant multiple copies of code in multiple methods all for slightly different functions - some of which were never even called. There was no copy of code that had actually been released in the last version - he had just ploughed on, editing the one and only copy of the code! We ended up rewriting the whole thing from functional needs (no documentation, I had been brought in because I had used the product extensively at my previous job and had been "poached" to work for the product vendor). I spent a few days writing the specifications based on my memory of what worked and what didn't and how I thought it should have worked.
When we finished it all worked and was about 9,000 lines of carefully constructed code. the code we started with was over 60,000 lines of code, mostly repeated. Phew!
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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That sounds rough!
Someday the next couple of devs will probably have to rewrite this project I'm on and be scratching their heads 
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Come on be honest, you've only removed about every seventh line break 
modified 5-Apr-21 21:01pm.
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OK, you caught us! 
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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If the system's client is the government / crown, do their "regulations" suffice as documentation?
I got to come back some 5 years later when there were new "retro-active" regulations. Nobody else wanted to touch it.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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You haven't lived until you've been tasked with replacing a feature where the original developer is no longer with the company, he's no longer alive. Good riddance to bad rubbish, BTW; the guy was an utter douchebag.
We're not even certain we have the proper source code for the product we've been delivering for the last several years, and we don't really know how to build it. It's in C, uses makefiles, and an odd configuration of C runtime libraries.
We are (or at least I am) totally ![Elephant | [mastadon]](https://codeproject.freetls.fastly.net/script/Forums/Images/elephant.gif) ed.
Software Zen: delete this;
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There is honor in recognizing that we need help. I am glad that your managers did the right thing.
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There's a difference between rewriting and translating. It sounds like a minor distinction but it is not.
If the goal is simply to move from language A to B because A is not supported/secure/etc. anymore, then translate and run with it.
From a business process POV however, that is the cheaper solution but also a waste of resources for the client. The PM/SA should have done the required analysis and reviewed the processes with the client. It is expensive but at the end of the day, the client could get an enormous value add rather than a translation. Rewrites need to look beyond the codebase behind the system and utilize current technology to create or improve the client's operation as well.
I know there are valid reasons to go from "A" to "B", but personally I wouldn't take it on as I learned several years ago to listen to myself and that often the client/users don't know what's best.
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More than once in my career, I've had to reverse-engineer a product in order to re-implement it using modern technology. It's pretty embarrassing when it's your own company's product and you're wandering around to all the old-timer trying to collect fragments of documentation, and reverse-engineering your own hardware.
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Can you write unit tests for the legacy code in the legacy language & framework?
If so, translation is possibly the safest solution, not a rewrite. Then write matching unit tests in both languages to make sure you've got all the off by 1 errors, etc.
I've been in this exact situation but even the customer didn't know how it worked, "Just make it the same!" Not pretty, not satisfying, but met the customer's schedule and expectations, so still a win?
Added unit tests as we learned more from the users to ensure any future refactors/rewrites would have some level of confidence, too.
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Unstoppable flow through large bodies heard (12)
------------
Not solved by 13:15... answer is
unstoppable flow = INCONTINENCE
through large bodies = in continents
heard = homophone indicator
I'm up again tomorrow, then...
modified 11-Mar-21 8:18am.
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And you called my clue annoying ! 
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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He's anal like that 
"I didn't mention the bats - he'd see them soon enough" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP
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Now you're just taking the piss... 
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No, it was a sh*t clue ...
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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(Runs away)
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Quote: OVHcloud data centers engulfed in flames
OVHcloud data centers engulfed in flames[^]
I like this statement: Quote: Impacted clients have been urged to turn to backups to minimize downtime and disruption.
What if the cloud was your backup?
And:
Quote: "Firefighters continue to cool the buildings with the water,"
I hope those servers can swim! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
modified 10-Mar-21 18:16pm.
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Eek! The cloud is turning into a cloud...
Backup your cloud data to... somewhere else.
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I have a deep seated mistrust in anything to do with the cloud. Nothing of any importance is stored there! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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I with you, I like to keep a copy of what is current on my local PC. That way if something breaks (yes I'm looking at you TeamCenter!) you can carry on. For backups OneDive, cloud is good but anything else is a bit dodgy in my opinon.
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Welcome to my paranoia. Our corporate IT department intensely dislikes the fact that I control three servers that are on the company domain, yet not under their administration. The three machines back up to each other, in addition to an external hard drive.
Our group has never had a critical data loss in the last 20 years. We have never had a malware incursion in that same time. The same cannot be said of corporate IT.
Software Zen: delete this;
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I live just a bunch of km away from this data center. Interestingly, the fire extinguishing system was made with water sprinklers, instead of inert gas or ... water clouds, that would have far less damaged the servers. I guess the firemen damaged more than the fire itself.
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Rage wrote: instead of inert gas
The BOFH has brought disrepute on the use of Halon for extinguishing fires... 
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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