> That LoadLibrary call is ugly but it makes the code work on old versions of Windows 95.
with the proper code comments for the hair (in the code or in the source repo) and regression tests it becomes possible to clean up and even rewrite.
floppy disks are no longer a thing and neither is windows 95. RAM & swap space are abundant, so that OOM may never happen any more IRL.
the app's whole architecture may have been carefully chosen for the hardware and simplistic compilers of another age.
is it okay never to rewrite a webpage where 50% of the codebase is IE6 hacks?
if it is code that must be maintained, then at some point the hair may need to be shaved; it simply cannot grow forever as the world moves on around it. the doma of "never rewrite" is silly without further context.
with the proper code comments for the hair (in the code or in the source repo) and regression tests it becomes possible to clean up and even rewrite.
floppy disks are no longer a thing and neither is windows 95. RAM & swap space are abundant, so that OOM may never happen any more IRL.
the app's whole architecture may have been carefully chosen for the hardware and simplistic compilers of another age.
is it okay never to rewrite a webpage where 50% of the codebase is IE6 hacks?
if it is code that must be maintained, then at some point the hair may need to be shaved; it simply cannot grow forever as the world moves on around it. the doma of "never rewrite" is silly without further context.