[cbanek]

I agree with both you and the parent that sometimes rewriting the code is best, and you can usually make a superior solution by utilizing lessons learned from the first version, either from rewriting or iterative improvement.

But I think the mindset to approach a codebase with is to be open to it, rather than dismissive of it. Code is such a stylized thing, and everyone has their own style and loves their own style most of all. It's hard and takes time to understand someone else's code (a vastly underrated skill IMHO). The temptation to find some reason to start over when it isn't exactly necessary is usually quite high.

Once you understand what the current code is doing, then you really have to apply your good skills on what parts to save, and what to change, and how that relates to the schedule and cost.

Also in a corporate setting, there can be political / organizational friction to throwing out code or starting over (and it rarely makes you friends with whoever wrote the first version).