Story
Most rewrites serve the engineer, not the business
1 report
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1 discussion
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Overview
Rewriting code often prioritizes the preferences of engineers over the needs of the business. A developer transitioned a production application from CakePHP to Laravel, enhancing the project by integrating Illuminate packages during personal time.
Summary from anatoliybabushka.com.
Reports
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anatoliybabushka.com
Most rewrites serve the engineer, not the business
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Community reactions
Each reaction summarizes sampled comments from the linked discussion.
Hacker News · anatoliybabushka.com
Hacker News discussion ↗
Historical count: 5 · 5 saved in sample · Historical sample
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Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-07-02.
- Praise: Rewrites often address gaps in functionality and can serve business needs better than maintaining outdated code, highlighting the importance of aligning engineering efforts with business objectives.
- Praise: Recognizing the difference between good and bad refactoring practices is crucial for engineers, as it can significantly impact project outcomes and business value.
- Concern: Many engineers fall into the trap of unnecessary rewrites, driven by personal preferences rather than actual business needs, which can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities.
- Concern: The tendency to rewrite software due to unfamiliarity with the technology rather than genuine necessity indicates a lack of experience and can signal hiring mistakes.